problems with title and solicitor HELP!

penbrowne

My house in Shropshire is rented out and I am now in Australia. I have only owned it two years and I am having problems with title which is very frustrating as all my paperwork is in the loft back there. It would be difficult to send anyone in to find it without them unloading most of the loft which is absolutely crammed with all my worldly goods.

I bought it from one of those companies that help people relocate by buying then selling on the property. The old lady and her family didn't want the hassle of marketing it themselves I think. They withheld the garage from the sale, which I rented from them while I was there. The yard area behind the garage was included in my title with the house.

The original owners son, who is a solicitor, has tried to sell me the garage but there is a vast price difference between what we think it's worth. I had an email from him back in May last year saying he noticed a washing line in the yard and if I wanted to keep it there I had to pay rent. Of course I told him the yard belongs to me. I also emailed and phoned my solicitor but he was off sick and I couldn't get any results.

I had a look on the land registry and the house hadn't been registered to me yet, so after many calls I got hold of my solicitor who registered it last July, 17 months after I bought it. Meanwhile, the original owners son has taken possession of the disputed yard and removed the washing line. I re checked the land registry site and the title is incorrect and shows that I don't own that area. My solicitor has now retired his replacement (who has implied that she is up to her back teeth trying to sort out her inherited mess) has been trying to contact the solicitors for the company that sold it to me, with no reply.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do? Is there a legal ombudsman I can talk to? I'm worried that if I put too much pressure on my solicitors, they might find it easier to 'lose' the original documents so I have no claim unless I can find the right stuff in the loft. It may be years before I have the opportunity to look.

Sorry about the epic posting. It has actually been far more epic than I have mentioned, with lots of mail flying between me, my tenant and the rest of the cast of characters. I hope someone has a suggestion?

silvercar

Contact the land registry for advice.

Richard_Webster

This sounds like poor service and possible negligence on the p[art of your solicitor. the latter would depend on whether there was clarity between you as to exactly what you were buying.

If you complain to the Legal Complaints Board then they will simply ask your replacement solicitor all about it. If she is now trying to sort it out for you then you can't really blame her. Getting at the facts will be important. If she can't get it right by going back tot he solicitors who acted for your seller then it may be that the seller never owned the land in question - but that should have been explained to you at the time.

I always make a point of sending my buyer clients a plan showing the land being purchased. Normally this is a formality but if there is radical difference between what is shown on that plan and the land my clients are expecting to buy, then they have an opportunity to raise the point.

You will have to ask the replacement solicitor what the arrangements are as between the solicitor who acted for you and his"replacement". Is it the same firm as before with one fee earner taking over from someone who has left? If it was a sole practitioner then the "replacement" solicitor may be trying to sort things out as a goodwill gesture, but she may not carry any legal responsibility for her "predecessor"'s actions.

penbrowne

Thanks to silvercar and Richard Webster for the advice.

I am assuming the Land Registry only knows what they have been told, which was incorrect information unfortunately.

Richard, how nice to hear from someone in the front line! The partnership is still in the same name. I don't know if the new solicitor is a partner or employee. I was sent the plan with the relevant area outlined. The problem is that this is not what was registered. I am guessing that the registration was overlooked and when I enquired it was hastily submitted without the area now disputed being correctly outlined.

It is quite possible that the agency who sold me the house didn't actually own it. In that case my own solicitor would be the only correct record, apart from my records that I can't access.

I will ask my solicitor for more clarity, and try and find out why they don't seem to have records themselves. The original guy said he was sending the correct details to Land Registry. This was the last I heard before I was told he had retired.

Thanks again for the welcome advice.

Penny

Richard_Webster

A plan would only be needed for registration at the Land Registry if it was a transfer of as yet unregistered land or was a transfer of part only of an existing registered title. If you were buying all the seller had and it was in one existing registered title then a plan wouldn't have been needed. Therefore if you got a copy of a Land Registry file plan that was the plan for the title then it is difficult to understand why you didn't get all of it. Is that what you saw? Do you still have a copy f this plan that was prodcued to you at the begininning?

The name of the local authoirty area in question would tell us something about the likelihood of the proeprty already being regsitered or not.

penbrowne

The property is in Ludlow which is Shropshire, if that gives any clues as to how things would have been handled. I would still have my copy I suppose, if I was given a copy and didn't just sign and return everything, but until I go back to Shropshire from here in Queensland and go through the loft for my documents I can't be sure.

The plan I downloaded from the LR website did not include the garage or the back yard which was originally with the property, so it was an amended plan. The plan that I saw and approved when it was sent by mail from my solicitor also included an outlined yard area behind the garage with the house, but not the garage that I knew was excluded. I hope that makes sense.

My biggest worry now is that he (the original owners son, who is a solicitor himself, and who is acting for his elderly mother) can sell the garage with the yard and complicate things even further.

Richard_Webster

You can download a SIM form from the Land Registry website. Complete this an attach a photocopy of your title but edge red the area that isn't included and ask for a SIM (search of index map) search against that piece of land. that will tell you tthe title numebr of that rea if it is registered and you cna then download the title and file plan for that and see hwo owns it.

Entertainer

You must have a contract for sale which you would have exchanged to create the purchase (hence exchange of contracts). It should also refer to a plan in some way, to identify what is being sold, for example by way of an old conveyance if it was unregistered.

It sounds to me like it might have been registered wrongly by your inept solicitor. Anyway, you need to check your contract to see what it was exactly that you bought.

penbrowne

Ahaa! A reply and not a total fob off. I don't think they want me going over and rattling the bars! I am pasting the bulk of the reply below.

"The property had an unregistered title. It was described by reference to a Conveyance of 6 September 1978 as varied by a Deed of Exchange of 13 May 1980. The Deed of Exchange related specifically to the small plot in question. We have copies of the necessary plans on our file. There was no plan on the actual Transfer to you. The Estate Agents description of the property refers to “an area behind the row of garages suitable for a bin store or space for a rotary washing line”.
It is unlikely that you have any documents which could be helpful so that there is no point in your travelling back from Australia .
To protect your position we have now applied to register a notice against the piece of land and will keep you advised."

This registry of a notice, I guess the other party would contest this. Surely there should have been a plan on the transfer to me, as it would have been an amendment?
It sounds like the estate agents description might be the only proof I have. Inept sounds like a kind description of my solicitors Entertainer!