Lost deeds to property

pigsty213

My sisters and I have a problem regarding my parent's property.

My parents have unfortunately both died, we are trying to sell their house, however the Deeds have been lost, we've tried everywhere, solicitors, Accountants, Mortgage Broker who my father was with when he bought the property.

My sister has been to the Lands Registry to get a copy of the Deeds, however she has advised me that land registry will not issue deeds absolute which means that whoever buys the property will have improper deeds, they said it takes 12 years to get the deeds cleared. This is even more annoying as we had a buyer interested in the property, we think she may pull out now due to the deeds problem, what makes it even worse is that we took all the carpets up as she requested, so the house is bare.

I look forward to your advice.

Many thanks

chris_n_tj

Have you asked the bank or whoever it was that held their mortgage?. I know that some used to hold the deeds for yuo fro a small yearly sum. It might be worth a try. Sorry I cant offer more. good luck.
Chris n TJ

pigsty213

We have tried all banks, building societies and solicitors. The bank who had his mortgage were foreign and have now gone into receivership!

I look forward to further advice.

Many thanks

LisaLou1982

Dont worry too much - this happens quite a lot, esp when an elderly couple have lived in a property for a long time and therefore it wouldnt have been registered with the land registry,

Your buyers can still buy the property - if theyre buying with a mortgage they wont see the deeds anyway and as long as the mortgage lender is happy then it shouldnt matter. Their solicitor will do all relevant searches to check if anyone else has laid claim to or had an injunctions against them at that address.

Hope that helps

Richard_Webster

Which local authority district is it in and when did parents buy it?

terryw

Was the property registered with the Land Registry prior to your parents' deaths? If so the deeds themselves are of little use, merely historic and sentimental value. Why do you require a copy of the deeds......the salient points are likely to be on the Land Register.

I think that you mean the LR title is not title absolute - what is the reason for this?

pigsty213

The problem is the buyer's solicitor is being awkward, she wants the property, is a cash buyer, not sure if he will accept copy Deeds

pigsty213

My parents bought the property around 23 years ago, January 1986. It is in Suffolk, Babergh District Council

Richard_Webster

OK so Babergh only became an area of compulsory registration on 1st December 1990 - one of the last areas in the England & Wales to do so.

So if they bought in January 1986 the title would not have been registered and all you can do is produce whatever evidence you have of the parents' ownership to the Registry and they would then probably give you a possessory title. You then provide indemnity insurance to back up the title and usually unless someone comes along claiming a better title (unlikely if you know your parents owned it (as opposed to merely being tenants)) after a further 12 years whoever owns it at the time can apply for the title to be upgraded to absolute.


What evidence have you got that your parents did buy it in 1986? Are there any letters from solicitors then? Possibly one saying "Dear Mr & Mrs. [Name]....We are pleased to confirm that completion of your purchase took place today..."? Buyer's solicitor is going to be interested in the evidence you can produce that they did indeed buy the house.

If a buyer's solicitor is persuaded that the parents did buy it and the deeds have been lost, then although he will want an indemnity policy he wouldn't see it as a big disaster. Indemnity policies for possessory title cost a few hundred pounds e.g. GCS charges £230 for a property worth between £150-£200K.