Selling late mother's house - Land Registry problem

poppysarah

puddy wrote: »

4.5k? really? im surprised at that, but then i have no idea

well if thats the sort of money we're talking about, just do it. a couple of solicitors letters will run up that sort of cost

I think this is something people should be taught about - the price of housing used to be tiny tiny amounts of money!

puddy

roger196 wrote: »

Just a few thoughts of lines to persue.

Ask for a copy of the loan agreement (signed by both parties) and his correspondence with the land registry to register the charge. If he is alleging that interest is due, ask him to authorise HMRC to release copies of his tax returns. This will show whether he has been declaring the interest. It would be most unusual for all the interest to be rolled up ie only to be repaid at the end of the loan, so where is the documentation to support his claim. If the interest is annual, what reasons can he give for not collecting this on a yearly basis. If he has been making multiple loans, he probably has an accountant who will hold the information. Does the level of loan making require a moneylenders licence?

Limitation Act 1980
Section 20 Time limit for actions to recover money secured by a mortgage or charge or to recover proceeds of the sale of land.
((5)Subject to subsections (6) and (7) below, no action to recover arrears of interest payable in respect of any sum of money secured by a mortgage or other charge or payable in respect of proceeds of the sale of land, or to recover damages in respect of such arrears shall be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the interest became due..

very good advice

he may not of course have been filing tax returns, not everyone needs to, although i suppose the point is that if he was (is) stating that interest is payable then as you say you would expect that to be claimed and filed each year

the problem is however, with those requests, he may simply just refuse to provide it and say 'not my problem - you need to pay me to get me to sign the charge away'

it still leaves OP having to initiate court action (which would hopefully make him realise that these documents would be asked for in court and if he is dodgy, want to settle before court), which will cost them stress and money

very difficult situation. im wholly suspicious of the ex wife though...

puddy

poppysarah wrote: »

I think this is something people should be taught about - the price of housing used to be tiny tiny amounts of money!

yes! although we are talking about 1980 whereas everyones memories of their house prices are quoted from the mid 70s

Errata

puddy wrote: »

yes! although we are talking about 1980 whereas everyones memories of their house prices are quoted from the mid 70s

Perhaps that's because the property this thread is about was bought in 1968.

Mrs_Arcanum

puddy wrote: »

yes! although we are talking about 1980 whereas everyones memories of their house prices are quoted from the mid 70s

:shhh: Father paid £4,000 cash for a 5/6 bed detached in the early 60's.

Looks like the OP should find out how much the 20% actually was when the house was purchased, add 6 years interest then look at this as the probable maximum they should pay. Any more would appear to be totally unreasonable. Payment ONLY providing they can find no proof it has already been paid of course.

puddy

Errata wrote: »

Perhaps that's because the property this thread is about was bought in 1968.

doh!

i dont know whats wrong with me, i thought 2011 - 40 = 1980!!!

ok, so about 5 grand or whatever

ive done this before, i wonder if its early onset senility

Kathymel

Thanks everyone for your input on this. I was at college last night so have only just caught up.

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

I wondered this as well. My sister found and contacted the present day incarnation of the solicitors who dealt with the transfer of the house to my mother. Apparently, the file was destroyed when I turned 21.

JacquiMarie

Update:

As my sister has said, I managed to track down the present day version of my Father's divorce solicitors and they assured me that they would have seen evidence of full payment being made before stating that in the court papers.

They did suggest that I get a Sealed version of the Plaint from my Mother's County Court. If papers are Sealed then anything within them is deemed correct in the eyes of the law which means that the payments have been completed. We can then, if he still refuses to sign, get a Court Order and a Judge to sign them off. So I have requested the document but, like the solicitors, it may not now exist - fingers crossed!

Thanks to everyone for their support and input to our problem - all greatly appreciated and what a wonderful source of information you have been - we will let you know what happens but if you have any more ideas they may yet come in handy x

jackyann

I would love to know the outcome - sounds nosy, but this is an unusual situation.
I wish you all the energy you need to continue!

I also had a thought - and the charge on the Land Registry might prevent it - but could you rent it out? You would at least be getting some money from it whilst dealing with all this hassle - although I know that being a landlord is not a bed of roses - I have a property that's not selling, but making it fit for rental would be even more trouble 'n' strife.