confused by potential problem

fannyanna

We're waiting to exchange contracts but our solicitor called my husband today to explain why it hadn't happened yet. Apparently before exchange they do some kind of check with the land registry and that resulted in a potential problem. I don't really understand what's happened but we're told it could be a simple clerical thing (like changes are being made) or it could mean there are charges on the property.

The latter doesn't sound good.

Anyone have an idea what could be going on?

DVardysShadow

Your other threads
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4110127
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4043893

The vendor's solicitor has been procrastinating. There was/is a problem with a garage which might or might not have been sold years ago. It could be charges on the property, but my guess is they are still trying to resolve the issue with the garage. They know they cannot sell the property to you with the garage, Perhaps they cannot establish what needs to be done with the garage to untangle the situation?

fannyanna

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Your other threads
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4110127
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4043893

The vendor's solicitor has been procrastinating. There was/is a problem with a garage which might or might not have been sold years ago. It could be charges on the property, but my guess is they are still trying to resolve the issue with the garage. They know they cannot sell the property to you with the garage, Perhaps they cannot establish what needs to be done with the garage to untangle the situation?

Our solicitor is ok with the garage. They've provided a separate Title which shows the garage was sold.

Flat_Eric

fannyanna wrote: »

We're waiting to exchange contracts but our solicitor called my husband today to explain why it hadn't happened yet. Apparently before exchange they do some kind of check with the land registry and that resulted in a potential problem. I don't really understand what's happened but we're told it could be a simple clerical thing (like changes are being made) or it could mean there are charges on the property.

The latter doesn't sound good.

Anyone have an idea what could be going on?

Ok - so this is just a guess and I might be very wrong but...

Included within the Contract pack that your solicitor receives at the beginning of the transaction is the Official Copies and Title plan. These say who owns the property etc. Prior to exchange/immediately after exchange, your solicitor conducts what is known as a priority search with HM Land Registry. This puts the Land Registry on notice that a change in the title is imminent and affords priority to the person your solicitor specifies. Usually a lender if you are getting a mortgage.

Your solicitor then has 30 working days to submit the relevant paperwork to the Land Registry to transfer the title to the new owner. (They can have longer if they renew the search).

Usually this search comes back clear but on occasions the solicitor may get new Office Copies and he will then need to investigate what has happened to the title since the original official copies he received - i.e. what has changed. This could be what your solicitor is investigating.

It could also be that someone else has already submitted a priority search for the title in question so your application would rank behind which isnt any good so your solicitor would need to sort this before he could exchange/complete

In effect once you have your priority, nothing can happen to the title until your solicitor submits the application to change the title. Of course if priority lapses then someone else can sneak in. Its quite an important consideration.

Land_Registry

Flat_Eric wrote: »

Ok - so this is just a guess and I might be very wrong but...

Included within the Contract pack that your solicitor receives at the beginning of the transaction is the Official Copies and Title plan. These say who owns the property etc. Prior to exchange/immediately after exchange, your solicitor conducts what is known as a priority search with HM Land Registry. This puts the Land Registry on notice that a change in the title is imminent and affords priority to the person your solicitor specifies. Usually a lender if you are getting a mortgage.

Your solicitor then has 30 working days to submit the relevant paperwork to the Land Registry to transfer the title to the new owner. (They can have longer if they renew the search).

Usually this search comes back clear but on occasions the solicitor may get new Office Copies and he will then need to investigate what has happened to the title since the original official copies he received - i.e. what has changed. This could be what your solicitor is investigating.

It could also be that someone else has already submitted a priority search for the title in question so your application would rank behind which isnt any good so your solicitor would need to sort this before he could exchange/complete

In effect once you have your priority, nothing can happen to the title until your solicitor submits the application to change the title. Of course if priority lapses then someone else can sneak in. Its quite an important consideration.

I have read your previous threads via the links referred to above but cannot find any mention of what the remaining 'enquiries' are about (the garage issue has been resolved). As such it is very difficult to provide any further insight but apolgies if I have missed something.

My comments therefore are restricted to Flat Eric's helpful response as it might also be helpful to offer a wider explanation of the points he makes - I do not want to hijack the thread as an explanation of the registration process.

The priority search (OS1) he refers to lasts for 30 days but it cannot be renewed - a new OS1 can be lodged as many times as necessary and this is what I suspect Flat Eric means here.

30 days is though normally more than sufficient for a conveyancer (or anyone else) to then lodge the protected application but as Flat Eric states this is only normal where nothing is revealed by the OS1 result and further 'enquiries' do not appear.

If the application protected by the OS1 is not lodged before the OS1 expires then the title is technically vulnerable as the protection has ended and anything can happen to the title - this is where he refers to someone else 'sneaking in' although if the OS1 (or indeed any application to register something else) is legitimate then it is more a case of doing what they have to do than sneaking in.

As he also mentions someone else may have lodged their own OS1 but the main reasons for doing so are to protect a Lease, Purchase or Charge so it is perhaps rare for this to happen as normally only one sale is taking place and the seller is also not trying to lease the property out or remortgage it.

All of this is of course conjecture still as we do not know what the 'enquiries' are or what issues they relate to. My comments are made mainly for any wider viewing but may, along with Flat Eric's post be relevant to your situation of course.

More information on the priority of searches and how the process works can be obtained from our Practice Guide 12 - section 5 refers to priority periods specifically

fannyanna

Thank you Flat Eric and Land Registry Representative.

This is starting to make some sense now. I was relying on what my Husband could remember our solicitor had told him

We still don't know what is going on. Apparently our solicitor was expecting some form of secure post this morning but it's gone a bit wrong so he's trying to speak to someone at the Land Registry to see what the deal is.

So it would seem that our solicitor did an Official Search (as we're now ready to exchange) and I'm guessing it's come back to show that there's already a search "open". It would seem that our solicitor is now trying to establish if this is an error, something simple like changes being made or something not so simple like a charge being registered. Think I've got it.

Is the Land Registry likely to give our solicitor the information he needs over the phone?

Fingers crossed it's not a charge!

Land_Registry

I can't see any reason why we would not be able to deal with the matter over the phone as far as explaining what the situation is. Any solution may take longer to achieve though as it may not be within his or our power's to resolve.

If the solicitor has lodged an OS1 then the result should have revealed enough information. If there was a problem then I would perhaps expect the matter to then be taken up with the seller's solicitor but without knowing the exact details it is difficult to be sure.

You are right to leave it for your solicitor to resolve and he will either be speaking to a local office or our Customer Support Centre

fannyanna

EDIT: We've had feedback from the solicitor and apparently it's not a problem. I think it may have had something to do with the garage but whatever happened has now been resolved and the solicitor is now trying to agree dates for exchange and completion!


Wow, you're quick. I was just about to edit my post and saw that you'd responded lol.

Just spoke to my Husband and was saying that I think it's to do with a priority search and he said that's what it was (it all came back to him). Apparently someone else has got in with a priority search before our solicitor.

Sorry if you've already answered this but just for my clarity would you mean outlining what you might want a priority search for other than to register a charge. I'm trying to get my head around what else it could be. It's a freehold property so there's no lease to protect etc.

And yes, I know I should wait for my solicitor to find out what's going on but I'd like to have a bit of a clue as to what COULD happen next :-)

Land_Registry

Apologies for not responding sooner here

A priority search is primarily used to protect 3 main possibilities a purchase, a lease or a charge.

Your coneveyancer should be aware of who the prior search is by and what it is in favour of - any questions would need to be raised with the seller's conveyancer

If the OS1 has been lodged properly and for the right reasons then clarification of the circumstanecs is essential