Solicitor botched searches - where do i stand

Mike.Z_2

Hi there

Im fretting and need some advice please.

I am selling my house I have had as a buy to let for 3 years as i just dont want the worry of having tenants and have had a pretty torrid time. Anyhow, the house is in the process of the sale and the buyers solicitor has picked up a problem.

Apparently half of the front garden isnt in included in the property, and it turns out that the boundary line bisects my front garden. The garden walls have been there since the 70s, but my solicitor claims that as i have only been there 3 years and that the previous owners are now deceased, claiming adverse posession may be lenghty (and costly). The buyer is now pulling out, leaving me with 2 mortgages to pay, so i have to sell my car.

Heres the kicker - The solicitor I am selling with is THE SAME that i bought through, so HE should have picked up this issue when I bought the property. He is not returning my calls.

Do I have any claim against him to A) get any of my original fees back because he didnt do the job properly, Get some other solicitor to take control and pass the costs on or C) ask him to proceed but say i wont pay as its his fault to start with.

Many thanks

Mike Z

Southend1

Do you have legal cover through an insurance policy or trade union membership? If so you could get some legal advice on the best way to proceed.

Sarahspangles

Normally the solicitor sends out a copy of the Land Reg plan and asks you to check it reflects what you can see on site. Did they?

Mike.Z_2

I will look into legal cover thanks.

No, i would most certainly have noticed if i recieved a letter to confirm half my front garden wasnt within the red border.

Sarahspangles

So what was registered - a plan with a different boundary to the one issued to you to confirm? How has it now come to light?

Thrugelmir

Mike.Z wrote: »

No, i would most certainly have noticed if i recieved a letter to confirm half my front garden wasnt within the red border.

Pretty standard procedure during the process reviewing the Land Reg plan. As the solicitor won't know the property personally.

Pandilex

I was given a copy of the document with a red outline when I bought and told to check it matched what I expected.

Kathy535

Are you able to track down the owners before the people you bought the house off? If they would give a legally binding statement that the garden was used fully in their time that might help. I did this a couple of years ago, the person I bought off was in prison but the previous owners where happy to swear that they too had had full use of the garden when they owned the house over 15 years before.