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Absent (but know where they are!) freeholder
walshie_3
Posts: 3 Newbie
We are looking to buy a flat that is advertised as having an absent freeholder but I actually know that the flat has been repossessed by the bank as it was obtained fraudulently by the previous owner who is now on remand awaiting trial for a massive property fraud. What is the situation of obtaining the freehold on such a property? The flat is one of three in the building - all of which are owned by the said crook in prison who I assume now has no legal right on the property.
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Comments
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Messy.
If it has now been repossessed, then it is owned by the lender who repossessed and the fraudster is out of the picture. Do you know it has been repossessed or you are suspecting that it may be? If in doubt then download the deeds from land registry and see what they say.I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0 -
I know it has been repossessed as the estate agent has told me and I also know the position of the fraudster. The whole building is 3 seperate flats all originally owned by the fraudster but probably now owned by different banks (seperate mortgages on each flat) As the previous freeholder can no longer make a claim, surely now the legal freeholder is the bank/s?? So is it feasible to obtain the freehold for the whole building if we purchase all three flats?0
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is this in Rhyl ?0
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An absent freeholder is different to a missing owner.
The freeholder holds the freehold to the whole building. The flat owner is a leaseholder.
To buy/sell a leasehold flat you really need to get hold of the freeholder to answer questions etc, so I'm guessing that advertising it's an absent freeholder could indicate there'd be delays, complications, annoyance, frustration ... and if still not found, then at some random point in the future they COULD just turn up and demand back payment of all sorts of charges etc that you'd have to pay.
Or is it three flats and the freehold (4 items) all 'owned' by the scally?0 -
The whole lot was owned by the scally, and no its not in Rhyl, but you are close:)0
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