2nd charge on property we r buying. What would u do?

Ronoli14

It is all becoming clearer. Just had a good read at the paper work sent by our solicitor and it mentions three registered charges. 2 by the same bank and 1 by another. No indication of the amount. Our solicitor has asked for proof that there is enough equity to clear the charges but no confirmation from vendor's solicitor yet. This is a nightmare.

Not sure what to do now.

dj.boz

Right, we are currently in the same situation.. It is going to get messy..

You need to find out, from the seller and/or their solicitor if the funds you are paying for the house will clear these charges. Generally, once the charge is paid then they (the company holding the charges) will remove them (as per the condition of paying the money owed).

If there is not enough to pay each and every charge, then they are most likely to throw a spanner in the works. If they are not getting any money, or want to hold out for 'maximum share' then they will not remove / release the charge. This is where you will need to ensure that there is already an agreement to settle and remove the charges.

We are at week 19 from when we have our offer accepted on the house we are still trying to buy. The issue with these charges, and getting the approval to remove them has been a huge stumbling block. I cannot tell you the amount of stress involved, it is unbelievable. If I knew what I know now, I would have walked away a long time ago, but we have always been led to belive that a solution was just around the corner.

Currently we now have all agreements in place and am just awaiting for the sellers solicitors. He has (finally!) given us a completion date of the 7th June (though we have still not exhanged).

There is another post (from 2007) that was helpfull for me
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/609181

Boz

Land_Registry

Ronoli14 wrote: »

It is all becoming clearer. Just had a good read at the paper work sent by our solicitor and it mentions three registered charges. 2 by the same bank and 1 by another. No indication of the amount. Our solicitor has asked for proof that there is enough equity to clear the charges but no confirmation from vendor's solicitor yet. This is a nightmare.

Not sure what to do now.

If they are all registered charges then they will be secured against the title/property and will need to be discharged (released/redeemed/paid off) and removed at the time of sale/purchase.

As others mention providing there are sufficient funds available to clear the charges then no problems should arise. Having to deal with more than one lender may mean additional admin time is needed on the part of the Seller but if everything is ok then it is often a routine process.

Land_Registry

JencParker wrote: »

Apologies for jumping in on someone else's thread, but noticed your reply.

I am considering selling my house which has a small mortgage left with a large amount of equity. It also has a charge from Legal Aid for fees from my divorce. I will not be buying straight away and there is plenty of equity to cover the remaining mortgage and the legal aid charge. Will this cause a problem for any future buyer?

lawlie has covered this for you already - if the legal aid charge is still 'live' then worth checking to see what is owed etc. More information on paying off your legal aid charge is contained in a pdf - page 7 explains the process and provides a phone number

Ronoli14

Thanks for all your help so far.
The situation gets worse. There is also a bankruptcy order registered on the property from 1996. The vendor says that the bankruptcy did not go through. His solicitor have faxed our solicitor to say that they were unable to obtain copies of the pending actions in bankruptcy from the land registry and will have to to contact the high court to ask for copies of the petition book to find out if there is a dismissal date. they will then need to get a letter addressed to the high court from the official receiver and this is what the land registers will need to see in order to discharge the notices so that we can exchange and complete. They have predicted a two week time scale for this although our solicitor think it will be more.

This is all jargon to me. I can't believe what should have been a straight forward sale with the house been empty and our property sold, has turned out be a a nightmare. Who is to blame for this. Estate agent or vendor's solicitor. How can anyone market a house with so much issues on it.

Is it time to walk away?

Please advise

BobQ

Your choice. How much do you want the house? Is the price realistic? When do you need to move?

Unless you have some potential gain, like a low purchase price or a dream house, I would indeed walk away.

ValHaller

Ronoli14 wrote: »

Is it time to walk away?

Please advise

Are you under pressure to move out of your sister's house? If you are not it is down to whether you can be patient. Have you downloaded the title document as suggested by the Land Reg representative? That might give you some clue as to what is going on.

Ronoli14

The title document has confirmed the charges and bankruptcy but does not really offer more insight into the issues.

We think we are getting a bargain for the house. I have a feeling that the vendor priced it for a quick sell because he was in financial difficulty. The three bed next door ( one we are buying is a four bed) has just gone on the market for offers between £385k and £395k. The vendor has offered another £4k off for all the issues so if everything works out we will be buying for £308k. My sister has just accepted an offer on the house we are staying in. So depending on how quickly her sale goes, I'd say we have another 2 months here.

Think we have nothing to lose but wait he two weeks promised and re assess the situation from there.

Thanks for all your help. It has helped me to reach a decision I am happy moving forward with