Notice of assignment or notice of transfer?

Alaberto

Hello all (/ RichardW ?)

The question is very specific to what wording must be used in a notice of change of ownership letter to the lessor, for a RESIDENTIAL leasehold purchase. “Assignment” or “transfer”?

Or a better question: What is the actual difference between a notice of assignment and a notice of transfer? Is there actually a difference?


I did a lot of background research and my conclusions (maybe completely wrong) are:
- Ultimately it may not matter which wording is used as long as all the necessary information is present in the notice and the notice is served in due time.

- In practice, it would seem conveyancers will use both wording. Some firms will head the letter as a notice of transfer, some other firms as a notice of assignment.
- This can get rather confusing. You can find some notices stating “the lease was assigned from the assignor Mr X to the assignee Mr Y by deed of transfer” => well so it was a transfer then?... not an assignment?

- Legal definition of “assignment” is to only transfer the rights to the assignee and NOT the burdens which stay with the assignor. [I understand Law of Property Act 1925 s136 (1)] Conversely, a “transfer” transfers everything to the transferee.
- However a common English (not legal) definition could be “an assignment is a transfer of an existing lease by the current tenant to a new tenant with the consent of the landlord”. Which tends to state the 2 words are the same. This could explain the previous sentence “the lease was assigned (as per ‘common English’ definition) by deed of transfer (as per legal TR1 definition)”.

- A usual residential purchase will involve a TR1 at HMLR so it is a transfer of the whole of the leasehold title (including the lease). This is incompatible with the legal definition of an assignment and therefore it should be a notice of “transfer”, detailing the “transfer” of the lease and not its assignment (this word should be banned from the notice letter).
- Yet, LPE1 (8.10) states “Licence to Assign”…


So…
“Assignment”, “transfer”, or does not matter because you state it was effected by deed of transfer + supply a copy of the TR1 with the notice and therefore stating “assign” within the letter means you merely used common English rather than legal English?

I hope somebody knows!
Thanks in advance…

G_M

Motive for asking?

* you're a rather novice solicitor hoping not to make a booboo, or
* a trainee hoping not to have to display your ignorance to your superior
* you're a DIY conveyencer who is out of your depth
* you're a buyer (or seller) who does not trust your conveyencer
* you're a law student struggling with a first year essay on conveyancing
* you're a wind-up artist, initiating a pointless and esoteric discussion on a public forum

??

Alaberto

=> the entry "you're a DIY conveyencer who is out of your depth".

(If it is a first year of conveyancing law dead easy question then good! Answers shall flow then. You can refer me to the right book if you wish to and I will certainly look into it. My local library had some complicated book but trawling through was all irrelevant so I gave up).

G_M

https://bookshop.lawsociety.org.uk/ecom_lawsoc/public/saleproduct.jsf;jsessionid=GKj4++I2-EnFBrzfmhg9J0kU?catalogueCode=9781907698057

??

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Modern-Land-Law-Martin-Dixon/dp/0415732344

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Property-Law-Longman-R-J-Smith/dp/0582090113/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1515016178&sr=1-1&keywords=R+Smith%2CProperty+Law

Alaberto

Hello G_M,

Thanks for the links. May I just kindly ask for confirmation that the info is actually clearly within these?

Just asking because I have read a lot of the law society (or CLC) conveyancing protocoles and guidances and could not find the info. But these booklets are definitely very clear, well structured, and easy to understand... I will try and get the copy back and have a 2nd go at it since today I have only that question remaining.

On the other hand, re the amazon Property law books,
I looked at this kind at the library and this is when I got lost! You seem to have to read the whole 1000 pages book to finally understand the start (which you then don't remember). Finding an exact detail such as my question in such book is just impossible.

Anyhow, thanks for the reply and leads.

bobobski

To put it simply, it really doesn't matter for your purposes. There is a technical difference between an assignment and a transfer but both will have happened here and the freeholder will really struggle to show (a) that you didn't correctly notify him of the change in ownership because of your choice of language and in not doing so breached the lease and (b) that such breach caused him loss.

Maybe use a solicitor next time if this kind of thing stumps you. I really don't understand the point of DIY conveyancing, even for what appear to be simple transactions, given how cheap solicitors are in this field and the level of risk involved if you get it wrong.

Alaberto

Hello,

@ G_M
I checked the Law Society protocol again and this is not detailed. Thanks anyhow for the lead!

@ bobobski,

Thanks a lot for your reply. This is appreciated along with the explanations giving sense.

Re your 2nd comment: why DIY conveyance? In “brief”:
why use a service (even a free conveyancing service!) if this creates more hassle, more stress to me, more being left in complete dark than doing it myself? I then know (maybe I wrongly think so) how deep the research and enquiries have gone, what risks or oversights there is. Sure sometimes as for this one you kindly helped me out, I am “out of my depth” and struggle and need further investigation. However having done it all that time round and highlighted a few concerns with the seller’s solicitors (ultimately proving me right), I am now very unsure about what I had actually bought last time round when my solicitor did (not) do it.…

@ all
=> I will leave the thread open a bit longer to see if any further answers come in, but I am so far satisfied with bobobski’s.