Second freehold included in sale

janbro957

G_M wrote: »

So you can't really claim:
can you!?
And given that both you and your solicitor missed this, how do you know the buyer did not also miss it???

Personally I think you have a better chance of claiming against your solicitor for selling more than you instructed him to. However that depends exactly what instruction you gave him and whether you have a paper trail between the two of you.

Granting your point the buyer having only just made the discovery, suggests the mistake was not easy to find.

Furthermore, having now discovered he has more than he paid for, isn’t he legally required to give the extra back?

Richard_Webster

I have a feeling I have seen posts about the other side of this issue!

Is this about tow leasehold houses one across the road from the other?

You transferred freehold reversion in both houses to the lessee of one house and have been collecting ground rent from the other lessee ever since?

If that is the case then you could well have a claim for a possessory title against the person to whom the freehold was mistakenly transferred, as you have been collecting ground rent and the lessee has therefore acknowledged your title. Cannot be sure this will work - but at least worth trying with LR. Could perhaps be used as an argument for getting a transfer back, i.e. "If you don't transfer it back I'll claim a possessory title and since you haven't been collecting the ground rent you wouldn't have much of a case to stop me so you might as well transfer back...."

pauletruth

would they not need to be in possesion of the land/property for that to work. as they are just a land lord they don't have possesion. would the leasie not have a higher claim.
you have two problems the original error with the transfer of the freehold. have you spoken to the LR to see what they say. personally i think you have left it way to late.
the second is that the tenant has been paying you for something that you don't have a right to claim as your not the landowner. it may seem unfair but unless they were informed of the transfer then they would have assumed that you were the correct person to pay. so you have been getting the money when you should not. even if the deed was rtransfered back to you you still would not have the right to the previous 14 years of charges.
the best thing you can do is go and see a new lawyer that is an expert on land.

Richard_Webster

would they not need to be in possesion of the land/property for that to work. as they are just a land lord they don't have possesion

The lessee is entitled to physical possession but receipt of rent is generally considered to be the equivalent for what is called a reversionary estate.

janbro957

Richard_Webster wrote: »

I have a feeling I have seen posts about the other side of this issue!

Is this about tow leasehold houses one across the road from the other? ...."

No my houses are adjoining. Your next paragraph describes a similar situation.

To my knowledge the tenant was unaware the freehold had changed hands and paid ground rent as usual.

LR has made it clear they will only make a change if title holder makes a reverse transfer.

What is a possessory title and does it help me?

GDB2222

Is a claim against the solicitor statute barred? Would this count as a latent defect, and so outside the usual 6 year rule?

If it's not statute-barred, surely the solicitor who acted in 1998 is the person best equipped to sort this out?