Seriously SCARY situation

shortcrust

Thanks for the update. Not much consolation I'm sure but this is the most interesting thread on here for ages!

katejo

shortcrust wrote: »

Thanks for the update. Not much consolation I'm sure but this is the most interesting thread on here for ages!

Thought the same. Had been watching out for an update for the past couple of days.

MrsNubs

Clutterfree wrote: »

I'm pretty sure when we sold/bought our houses last year we had to go to the solicitors with ID - driving license or passport.

How did the ex-girlfriend get round that?

You don't always have to have your ID seen by the solicitor, it can be verified by another professional. We never met our solicitor, we sent copies of our passports signed by our accountant. It would be interesting to know who verified the ID in this case and if there can be any comeback on them

aneary

The solicitor may not be to blame it depends on how she forged the signiture.

Not everyone has photo ID some people still have the old fashioned driving licenses or don't drive and lots of people don't have passports.

If someone poised as the ex with non photo id the solicitor may not be at fault.

TBagpuss

katejo wrote: »

Have just caught up on this. Wow! I think it would be better to be honest about the boxes in the attic. The OP wasn't to know about the original owner's wishes.
i just wonder whether the OP asked the original owner whether she wanted them before giving them to the charity shop.

I wouldn't want to be in the seller's (or original witness's) shoes now.

I don't think it matters much. OP bought a house and cleared out the rubbish which was left there.

I agree that the seller is going to have a lot of problems but OP's role should not be as anything other than (possibly) a witness.

As others have said, OPs solicitors have not been negligent, so if anyone other than the seller and her ex are involved then it would be the sellers solicitor or conveyancer, who may be liable to the victim if they were negligent in checking his ID.
Out of curiosity, OP, did the seller use a solicitor or did they use an online conveyancer? I think that most solicitors want to actually meet their clients, but the online forms can't, so rely more on documents and may be less careful.

davidmcn

TBagpuss wrote: »

I think that most solicitors want to actually meet their clients, but the online forms can't, so rely more on documents and may be less careful.

Checking clients' ID doesn't necessarily involve dragging them in and staring at their faces (even if you're a "local" solicitor, not everyone wants to take time off work etc for meetings). Documents can be sent by post (perhaps wife still had access to husband's ID), or there are online checking services too if you want to confirm his address etc with the credit reference agencies etc. So not necessarily negligent, though it's a possibility.

Guest101

stator wrote: »

If you're going to deny knowledge of something, it's best not to contradict yourself by posting on the internet what you have infect done with the boxes.

especially when it has no bearing on the OP.


Entitled to do with the boxes what they wish after a reasonable period.

Ithaca

I agree re. the boxes in the loft. After six months it's not unreasonable to have cleared away any items the previous owners left behind. It's one thing to forget a box or two in the rush of moving - in those circumstances you might expect the new owners to hold onto them for a couple of days until they can be collected - but if there's been no request since February then taking them to a charity shop seems a very reasonable thing to do.

Just something else the bloke will need to add onto the bill he sends to his ex.

moneyistooshorttomention

Out of interest - is the ex going to be available to pay the compensation due to this poor part-owner? Or will she be in jail for having committed fraud?

This is all a very good argument btw for people to have a "Property Alert" registered with the Land Registry. It's free. That part of their website hasn't been done by someone as computer-literate as one would wish - but it should be a quick/easy process to set one's property up on this system. If the glitch in their programming of that page happens (as it did - repeatedly - to me) there is a phone number to phone and the person at the other end does answer pretty quickly and they know about their website glitch:cool:

If that part-owner had had their house registered on this (and ensured Land Registry were kept updated with his address) this wouldnt have been able to happen to him and he would have been able to walk back into his house without finding someone else living there to his surprise.

[Deleted User]

My ex has to sign something like an ID1 form and take in passport photos to a solicitor to be verified. That's the only thing I think he had to sign but actually that was to get his name off the remortgage as I bought him out. You'd think if there was a sale the same would apply. Quite shocking really.