Solicitor made mistake in sale info any comeback

londonbabe73

Bought my flat 18 months ago , was told in writing that I had parking with the flat , my solicitor even gave me a plan of where the parking was. After months of wrangling with the freeholder and me asking the solicitor to recheck the info they have now come back and said actually you don't have any parking with your flat despite the fact that I pay half the service charges & the downstairs flat has 2 spaces and I have nothing.

I went to see my estate agent and they advise it affects the price by 5-7k , the solicitor has been very quiet and hasn't offered any resolution in fact they haven't even returned my email asking for contact as clearly this is their mistake.

What can / should I do , the fault is squarely with the solicitor IMO .

help !!

Doozergirl

Where did they get the plan of the parking space from, exactly, if it isn't yours?

Hoploz

How odd. I wonder how the solicitor got the plan showing where the parking was, if it wasn't on the lease?

marksoton

londonbabe73 wrote: »

Bought my flat 18 months ago , was told in writing that I had parking with the flat , my solicitor even gave me a plan of where the parking was. After months of wrangling with the freeholder and me asking the solicitor to recheck the info they have now come back and said actually you don't have any parking with your flat despite the fact that I pay half the service charges & the downstairs flat has 2 spaces and I have nothing.

I went to see my estate agent and they advise it affects the price by 5-7k , the solicitor has been very quiet and hasn't offered any resolution in fact they haven't even returned my email asking for contact as clearly this is their mistake.

What can / should I do , the fault is squarely with the solicitor IMO .

help !!

So you're planning to sell?

You say in writing, from whom and in what form? If it's not in the lease.. ( That you read, didn't you..? )

londonbabe73

There's a small car park which is adjacent to my property which isn't owned by either flat but the house next door but we have rights to park there or did , I'm still parking there as yet the owner hasn't asked me to move and I kind of haven't fessed up to the owner that I don't have any rights figured I'll stay there til they ask me to leave ( been parking for 18 months ) then try and make a arrangement with them. I think the solicitor was looking at the wrong lease i.e. The flat downstairs & I'm upstairs .

londonbabe73

No plans to sell ... if I have to park on the road so be it but I'm not moving until I'm asked, my lease made no mention of parking which is why I emailed my solicitor who assured me I did !!!

marksoton

londonbabe73 wrote: »

There's a small car park which is adjacent to my property which isn't owned by either flat but the house next door but we have rights to park there or did , I'm still parking there as yet the owner hasn't asked me to move and I kind of haven't fessed up to the owner that I don't have any rights figured I'll stay there til they ask me to leave ( been parking for 18 months ) then try and make a arrangement with them. I think the solicitor was looking at the wrong lease i.e. The flat downstairs & I'm upstairs .

Um, you either a right to park there or you don't..?
Again, if it was in writing, from whom and on what document?

londonbabe73 wrote: »

No plans to sell ... if I have to park on the road so be it but I'm not moving until I'm asked

So who is this EA you refer to as " my" ?

G_M

Can you clarify...

londonbabe73 wrote: »

Bought my flat 18 months ago , was told in writing that I had parking with the flat , my solicitor even gave me a plan of where the parking was. After months of wrangling with the freeholder and me asking the solicitor to recheck the info they have now come back and said actually you don't have any parking with your flat despite the fact that I pay half the service charges & the downstairs flat has 2 spaces and I have nothing.

Told by who?
In what writing? Contract? email from estate agent?
What Plan? title Plan? Lease Plan? Developer's Plan?

eddddy

Your post is a little confusing. What is it that you think the solicitor has done wrong?

(I understand your complaint that you have no parking, but why do you think that is the solicitor's fault?)

Is it that your solicitor reported to you that parking was included?

Or are you saying that that your solicitor sent you the wrong lease plan?

Hoploz

Looks like you need to locate the plan you were shown and find out fr sure if that was indeed that of the wrong flat. If you can prove the solicitor was incorrectly showing the wrong flat then you have a case.

However what makes you think the person who owns the land you're parking on is suddenly going to ask you not to? They may not realise they own the land themselves. It might only ever come up if they sell and the new owner spots it.

I wonder if there might be some adverse possession possibility in future here? I know the rules have changed but look into it. You might need to prove you've had exclusive use of the spot for a certain length of time, so if you start keeping evidence now .... Although if you actually do have 'rights' to park there then this is not an option.

G_M

Hoploz wrote: »

Looks like you need to locate the plan you were shown and find out fr sure if that was indeed that of the wrong flat. If you can prove the solicitor was incorrectly showing the wrong flat then you may have a case.
....

Depends how the property was described and whether the Plan was a Title or Lease Plan.

For example if it was a Lease plan, for "number 16, ground floor" the solicitor may not have had any way to know you were buying the 1st floor unless OP specifically told him. The Title may have refered to "16a", giving the solicitor no clue. Remember solicitors do not visit the property so rely on the buyer to spot errors. Buyers do have a responsibility to carefully read/check the documents they are sent.

More commonly here, we see cases where the physical boundaries of a garden do not match the Plan. Again, a solicitor cannot be expected to spot this. He can only send the Plan to the buyer who should check it matches what he saw when viewing. The principle is the same.