Freehold s disappeared HELP!!!

wicksidebob

I am in the process of selling the flat that I have owned since 1993, and have discovered that the Freehold I purchased jointly with the owners of the flat underneath mine has been transferred to a third party?

I purchased the title register on-line and was surprised to find that my name did not appear on the Freehold? I then rang the Land Registry and they tell me the Freehold was transferred in 2004 to a third party!!! I explained that I certainly had not instigated this transfer, I did not sign anything and I certainly received no financial gain, so why would I transfer it? The date of the transfer is the same date as the flat below mine was sold?

I have made an appointment at the Land Registry next Thursday, and I have written to them but can anyone give me some advice or guidance as I am in the process of selling the flat and I am pulling my hair out!!

Any help or guidance would be very much appreciated.

Kind regards

Andrea

Guest101

Contact your solicitor, the one you used to buy preferably, but any conveyancing solicitor if not and ask them.

princeofpounds

Did you purchase it jointly, or did you establish a company that purchased it?

wicksidebob

Hi, it was purchased jointly with the flat downstairs in 1994 we owned 50% each.

Andrea

loubel

Did you ever see the title register in your joint names? (Just in case it was never actually transferred to you)

You'll need to get hold of a copy of the 2004 Transfer Deed and see what that says. The Land Registry should be able to order you one.

propertyman

Is or was the 3rd party an owner of a flat. I am wondering if they transferred the freehold while selling and at some point your name "fell off" the registration.

Solicitors and the Land registry are not perfect.

partialycloudy

We have just purchased our freehold 50/50 with downstairs. It seems like your previous neighbour has sold on the free hold seperatley to the flat sale. Which I thought you couldn't do??
I was under the impression the freehold HAD to be sold to the owner of the property to stop things like this happening!

Edited to add:
When your neighbour sold their flat you would have had to of signed something then to transfer the title to be held by yourself and the new owner. Do you remember signing anything at all when they sold?

propertyman

No you havent, you jointly own the freehold, not 50/50. Huge difference.

The owner of the freehold can sell it, but with joint owners both must sign. This is either an error or fraud.

wicksidebob

Thanks so much for all your help, it is very much appreciated.

I now have an appointment to see the Land registry where they will examine the transfer register, hopefully this will clarify the situation???

Thanks again

Andrea

Richard_Webster

What sometimes happens is that freehold is owned by V & X. You, P, buy your leasehold flat from V. You are told it is "shared freehold". This should mean that V will organise it so that the freehold is transferred by VX to PX. (See below where I explain "should" is a common expectation rather than a legal right.) To achieve this V has to get X to sign. Sometimes people in X's position refuse to do so. They do not have to.

So it is possible that the freehold was never transferred to OP and the solicitors "forgot" to explain what was happening.

You also need to understand that unless there is some trust deed or other document in place which sets out what should happen on a sale of a flat, there is no obligation on V to procure the transfer of the freehold. Just because it usually happens in practice doesn't mean it must happen - as Propertyman is continually saying - there really is no class of title called "shared freehold".

wicksidebob

Hi Richard,

Thanks for your thoughts, I'm seeing the Land registry this morning when hopefully this matter can be resolved.

Best wishes

Andrea