Financial charges on property

middlecat

Hello,

Does anyone have any ideas on how to find out the existing financial charges (i.e. outstanding mortgage owed by the seller) on a property?

Is that something that the buyer's solicitor would know?

Thank you!

BitterAndTwisted

No, that's none of the buyer's damned business

Werdnal

What benefit would it be for the buyer to know this?

Seller's financial arrangements are between them and their mortgage lender/bank manager!

WelshNic

Why would you want to know that, what business is it of yours?

middlecat

Wow, strong responses from all front. The title deed states that a certain bank has a charge on the property. I thought it is perfectly reasonable to try and understand if the sale price would actually cover the outstanding mortgage, hence allowing the property to be released from charge?

G_M

Spend £4 at the land registry to buy the Title.

Look at which bank has the registered Charge.

Ring the bank and ask how much is outstanding.

Give the seller's name, dob, mother's maiden name, recent account transaction and password.

Easy.

G_M

middlecat wrote: »

Wow, strong responses from all front. The title deed states that a certain bank has a charge on the property. I thought it is perfectly reasonable to try and understand if the sale price would actually cover the outstanding mortgage, hence allowing the property to be released from charge?

A condition of your purchase is that the charge is removed.

It's not your business how the seller pays off the charge. From the sale price, from savings, from..... aliens.

Are you using a conveyancer or doing the conveyancing yourself? If yourself - don't. You clearly don't know enough. If a conveyancer, stop worrying. That's what you're paying him to do!

Werdnal

middlecat wrote: »

Wow, strong responses from all front. The title deed states that a certain bank has a charge on the property. I thought it is perfectly reasonable to try and understand if the sale price would actually cover the outstanding mortgage, hence allowing the property to be released from charge?

Perhaps if you had better explained your query first, you may not have received such terse replies.

As G_M says, my understand is that although the charge is on the property, it is the debt of the vendor/current owner, and will not transfer to a new owner even if there is insufficient "profit" from the sale to pay it off. Charging orders can result from a number of sources, so may not actually relate to the mortgage anyway.

middlecat

G_M, I have got a conveyancer but I am also trying to understand the conveyancing process myself, hence reviewing the contract pack in detail.

G_M

Werdnal wrote: »

Perhaps if you had better explained your query first, you may not have received such terse replies.

As G_M says, my understand is that although the charge is on the property, it is the debt of the vendor/current owner, and will not transfer to a new owner even if there is insufficient "profit" from the sale to pay it off. Charging orders can result from a number of sources, so may not actually relate to the mortgage anyway.

Not so. The Charge remains on the property unless it is paid off. If a buyer ends up with a property which still has the seller's charge he has no end of problems!

If I as a seller with a charge on my property do not use a solicitor but do the conveyancing myself (I have done this), I have to pay off the Charge before Completion. ie using my own money. No buyer would Complete with the charge still in place.

The contract of sale will specify that the charge must be removed, so the buyer would be within their rights to refuse to complete.

Solicitors get round this by giving each other 'undertakings' that the charge(s) will be paid off after Completion (ie using the money received from the sale). As solicitors, they are bound by codes of practice, so trust each other to do this.

They would not trust me in the same way as I am not a solicitor, so an 'undertaking' from me would be meaningless.

timmyt

middlecat wrote: »

Hello,

Does anyone have any ideas on how to find out the existing financial charges (i.e. outstanding mortgage owed by the seller) on a property?

Is that something that the buyer's solicitor would know?

Thank you!

Well, even conveyancers ask selling lawyers this, so good question.

However, the usual answer is that they do not need to know as 'we Undertake to repay them all on Completion' as GM says.

But........ it is highly highly highly alarming how many selling conveyancers forget or leave it so late to find out the current borrowing of a seller that they can end up with insufficient funds to repay their clients mortgage. Some conveyancers will exchnage without even knowing...NEGLIGENCE.

The cheapo conveyancers could easily be culprits, as they are cheap because they cut corners where reasonably priced conveyancers don't. Why else are they cheap...but the public are always fooled.

But quite right to ask, and perhaps more buyers should, as it will be a reminder to the headset cheapo conveyancers out there to get a repayment statement before you let your client exchange - heck, get it right at the start of the deal - but you have yourself to blame if your conveyancer exchanged without checking you have enough equity left to sell ..if you went cheap like so many people do.

Good luck OP