Selling late mother's house - Land Registry problem

JacquiMarie

puddy wrote: »

thats because you are. you have little power in this situation

this is why i asked what proof has he of the amount owed and the terms and conditions. you could get away with the amount owed, because presumably the charge at the land registry (i dont know about these) simply has an outstanding amount on it

it wont have terms and conditions will it? if not, where are they? if he cant prove it comes with interest added to it and the interest rate then he too is scuppered if it goes to court, yes he will probably win the actual amount but if he cant prove it came with interest, he wont get that

so galling as it is, looks like an offer for the outstanding amount needs to be made to him, it would be drawn up by solicitors to be a full and final settlement and so he couldnt have any comeback

Very Galling.

Anyway, just had an email from our sols and they've apparently written to Mrs Loaner and insisted that she sign off the paperwork as he believes he's given them enough information to prove the money is not outstanding. We apparently have no contact information for our Mr Loaner though and its all being done with his ex. We will now just have to wait for a couple of days to see what happens.

Fingers crossed and thank you to everyone for their input and help x

puddy

hold on, who is saying that the charge wont be removed? the ex or the loaner?

has anyone actually spoken to the lender? is this something being cooked up by the ex?

Rikki

The house cannot be sold until anyone with an interest in the property agree. This includes the charge on the property made forty years ago.

Do you know the name of the solicitors used in the original purchase? maybe you could find the terms of charge laid against the property.

Do you have any idea how these payments would have been made to Mr Loaner? Lump sums or regular payments. Bank or building society cheques. Check your Mum's paperwork carefully something maybe there.

It's more likely an agreed figure would be repayable rather than plus interest.

It sounds like your Mum paid the monies back but didn't realise the charge needed to be removed. I can't see a seller letting a large amount of money not to be paid back.

Mojisola

JacquiMarie wrote: »

And if we offer to pay back the original loan amount who's to say that he will then not turn round and ask for the interest and any other losses that he could think up before signing off the paperwork - it could turn out to be quite a nice 'cash cow' for him.

If it was me, the money wouldn't be handed over to him until the paperwork was signed.

JacquiMarie

puddy wrote: »

hold on, who is saying that the charge wont be removed? the ex or the loaner?

has anyone actually spoken to the lender? is this something being cooked up by the ex?

Apparently our sol has been told by Mr Loaner that we have to prove payment has been made and until we do, or pay up he is allegedly refusing to sign. Now whether this was in person or via a message from Mrs L we don't know.

JacquiMarie

Rikki wrote: »

The house cannot be sold until anyone with an interest in the property agree. This includes the charge on the property made forty years ago.

Do you know the name of the solicitors used in the original purchase? maybe you could find the terms of charge laid against the property.

Do you have any idea how these payments would have been made to Mr Loaner? Lump sums or regular payments. Bank or building society cheques. Check your Mum's paperwork carefully something maybe there.

It's more likely an agreed figure would be repayable rather than plus interest.

It sounds like your Mum paid the monies back but didn't realise the charge needed to be removed. I can't see a seller letting a large amount of money not to be paid back.

Unfortunately we have absolutely no paperwork about the purchase of her house - all that is available is the Deeds which the solicitor has. There is literally nothing in the small amount of paperwork she left us to do with the house purchase. (Unlike me who has paperwork about each of our house purchases/sales lol.) All we came across was a paragraph in her divorce papers confirming that this sum had been paid off by 1972.

It obviously never occurred to her that anything like this would appear on the horizon as in her mind it was all done and dusted.

puddy

JacquiMarie wrote: »

Apparently our sol has been told by Mr Loaner that we have to prove payment has been made and until we do, or pay up he is allegedly refusing to sign. Now whether this was in person or via a message from Mrs L we don't know.

but she is the ex? makes me suspicious whether this is actually coming from him. how can she be dealing with it if the money came from him and they are now divorced (if she is an ex)

poppysarah

JacquiMarie wrote: »

Not without KathyMel's consent.

We know the initial sum but if he wants interest added to that sum it could run quite happily into a very substantial amount after 43 years!

And if we offer to pay back the original loan amount who's to say that he will then not turn round and ask for the interest and any other losses that he could think up before signing off the paperwork - it could turn out to be quite a nice 'cash cow' for him.

We both feel we're being held to ransom.

Have you gone through all your mother's important papers?

jackyann

How dreadful!
I suspect that your mother DID repay the loan, but was dealing with a lot of paperwork at the time of her divorce (not a good time!), and probably thought that a statement in a legal document was proof. I also wonder if Mr. Loaner realised that and kept quiet.
I'm sure that you have thought of asking any other relatives who were around at the time; but that probably carries no more legal weight than the statement in the divorce papers.
Is there any point in trying another, possible more specialist, solicitor; or you happy with the present one? If you are, you should take their advice as to how to proceed.
It does just occur to me that there might be a case against the solicitor who handled the divorce if they didn't check all the paperwork - are you able to speak to their firm and access their paperwork (not just your mother's)?
It also seems sensible to make an agreement on how much you are willing to spend pursuing this.
My sympathies.

puddy

i would be talking to the solicitors firm who did the divorce, if they have stated that the debt was repaid in court documentation, they should have evidence of why they said that

and perhaps the legal documentation she has IS proof enough