Deeds not transferred on leasehold garage, owner missing!

DaftyDuck

... but such a clause would mean both were transferred when you bought it....

(apologies, not re-read whole thread, might be explained)

kirtondm

Sorry you lost the purchase and sale.

hopefully you will get the garage transferred soon. I would certianly explore the possiblity of approaching the original solicitors.

Land_Registry

dizzybee001 wrote: »

Hi thanks again for your advice and for replying. When i say the garage is linked on the title, I mean that there is a clause clearly stating that the title of the house cannot be transferred without contemporaneously transferring the deeds of the garage at the same time. So the garage cannot be sold separately.
So my worry is, with this in mind, if the original owner refuses to sign, just to be difficult, I will never be able to sell my house.

What sort of clause? Can you be specific as to whether it's a restriction, covenant or otherwise?

It will be difficult to sell now but that will have more to do with the fact you know about the garage issue than the clause. But hopefully she will 'do the deed' so to speak and it can be resolved

dizzybee001

Hi there It's a covenant I think I can check later, so if she doesn't sign then what??

Land_Registry

Many thanks - if it's a covenant then it doesn't prevent the 'erroneous' transfer from happening. But it should/could have been another flag to a buyer or their solicitor at the time of purchase.

If she doesn't sign then it's most likely the scenario you have already highlighted, namely legal action. Then it's weight of evidence as to intent at the time of sale/purchase and efforts made to resolve. Your solicitor should advise, which I assume they have already as you mentioned litigation

dizzybee001

Hi there
Thank you, it was flagged but the answer from the other solicitor was 'we believe that to be a mistake as the house is freehold'. Of course I had no idea until the house was purchased that that was the answer. It's a series of errors on lots of parts. Interestingly my neighbour who has lived in their house since new, bought her ex partner out and transferred the house to her name, the garage was missed then, so it's fairly common I think.
Yes, I think litigation will be the only path we can take now, as it doesn't look like she'll sign.
Thanks

Janiewilts

Hi, sorry to jump in on your post but we are in the same position. Due to exchange contracts on our 6 year old property last Friday when our buyers solicitor informs us that our garage has not been transferred!! We've been on to their solicitor and our old solicitor and done some detective work. We managed to track down the previous owners only to find they've moved! We popped a note through their door and the new owner rang us and said they've moved and will pass our letter to their new housing company. Our solicitor says it's our fault for not checking the deeds! Unbelievable! Any advice please

Land_Registry

Janiewilts best advice is you need to check/confirm who the registered owner is and find them. They are the ones who will need to transfer the legal ownership now.
I read it you had but then you mention 'new housing company' so unsure who the owner is here?

dizzybee001

Hi there. I'm sorry to hear that you're in a similar situation. At first my solicitor tried to telll me it was my fault that I hadn't picked up on the fact that the red line round the very faded Deeds map didn't include the garage. But at the end of the day it was their job to advise me that the garage was on a seperate leasehold and had seperate deeds which they failed to do. So i would ask your solicitor what they intend to do to rectify this situation they have to take some of the responsibility
If you can track down the original owners and get them to sign then you can probably get back on track with your buyers quickly. Can you get in touch with the person who said they'd moved and ask who the housing company is?
I hope you haven't lost your sale because of this as unfortunately we did. Best of luck and keep us posted.

LadyDee

dizzybee - if the solicitors attempt to charge you for the extra work involved caused by their incompetence, then I think you should get straight on to the Law Society (after first following any of the firm's complaints procedures).