Historic Loan Help

highjewelgreen

Hi there,

If you anyone could point me in the right direction please, the story so far...

My parents were looking for the deeds to their house, after a lot of back and forth it was found that they were being held by a bank as they took out a loan 25 years ago. They are sure they have paid this loan back but have no paperwork to prove it. They have had no correspondence from the bank to say there is anything outstanding and it is the first they had heard of it in 20 odd years. The bank are currently looking for any information on the issue so we are waiting to hear back.

So what I am asking is what is there to do? Do the banks have a legal obligation to keep in contact about debt? Is it the banks responsibility to prove that the money has not been paid or my parents responsibility to prove that it has?

Any guidance would be great.

Browntoa

does the land registry entry show a charge on the property ??

https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

costs £3

highjewelgreen

Thanks for that, I have just got the title. It does say:

REGISTERED CHARGE dated 12 June 1990 to secure the moneys including the further advances therein mentioned.

I can't see any amount on this though. That's bad news isn't it?

jonesMUFCforever

No just the opposite.
If there is no debt - there is no need for the charge to remain on the property and it should be a simple process to remove it.
Just one question - did the bank hold a first charge on the property or second or subsequent one?
If they had the first charge they should be holding the deeds - but if it is a second one the first lender would hold them if you follow my drift.

pvt

Stupid question, but have your parents contacted the lender and asked them for the deeds?

In may cases mortgage lenders will offer to look after the deeds on your behalf when the loan is fully paid up.

highjewelgreen

Thanks for the replies, we still haven't heard anything from the bank.

Under the register extract section, it says:

Price stated: Not Available

Could you let me know how I would know if RBS hold the first charge or the second? I'm a little confused by the terms etc.

There is no mortgage on the property, they paid that off years ago and there is only this one charge showing on the document I downloaded.

RBS are holding the deeds. I think they were as surprised to find that out as my parents were.This all came to light because my parents decided to redo their will and moved to a new solicitor. All of a sudden the old solicitor couldn't find the deeds, in fact for about three weeks they said that they had lost them and searched for them high and low before telling my folks yesterday that they were at RBS because of a loan. My Mom rang RBS and it took them a long time to find any information at all but they did eventually say they had the deeds and there was this charge. They are now looking for more information and will get back to us when they have it.

I have been through all my parents paperwork, they have nothing remaining from RBS, they certainly haven't had any recent (within the last 20 years) reminders about any money owed and they are sure that they paid it back. It's a large amount and not something you could forget. They didn't bank with RBS at the time, it's a long shot but do you think Barclays would still have statements from 25 years ago so we could show the payments going out?

Again thanks in advance, it's a real worry.

highjewelgreen

I have just filled in an OC2 and requested a copy of the charge from the Land Registry, as it hasn't been scanned the lady said it would take a few days.

Land_Registry

I can understand the worry but from the sound of things maybe the worry need not be too great

Firstly, the property is registered so the deeds' value as 'proof of ownership' has largely disappeared. The registered title is what a buyer or lender would rely on and not the old deeds/documents the lender may or may not hold.

As there is one registered charge on the title register then you know that it is a first charge.

You already appreciate that bank's change their names as years go by so an original charge with X may now be an original charge with Y simply through the passage of time.

So there seems to be two remaining issues
1. The remaining charge - that should be resolved with the named lender and if it has been paid off then they should have a record and be able to action that for your parents and
2. The deeds - you did not mention why they were looking for them so how far you pursue the deeds may depend on why you wanted them?

Note - the copy charge you have requested will mainly confirm what you already know, namely the date and parties. It may refer to the original amount as secured but it will have no details of payments made etc. Those will be known by the lender and/or your parents I assume e.g. through their own bank statements if made on a monthly basis?