charge declared on house

kezzygirl

Hi, we are ftb in the process of purchasing a property. we have had searches completed and survey etc, the searches have highlighted a charge on the property by nationwide.....excuse me if I am being thick, but does this mean that previous occupants defaulted on the mortgage and were repossessed? Will this have any implications for us? thanks, kez

bobbymotors

no it means they have a nationwide mortgage. any mortgaged house will have a charge on it

kingstreet

When you buy, the current charge is removed when the vendor's solicitor repays their mortgage.

Your solicitor will register your lender's charge soon after.

davidmcn

kezzygirl wrote: »

the searches have highlighted a charge on the property by nationwide.....excuse me if I am being thick, but does this mean that previous occupants defaulted on the mortgage and were repossessed?

As explained above, you're probably just being thick, but I wonder what you mean by the searches have "highlighted" the charge - has your solicitor suggested there is something unusual or worrying about this charge?

kezzygirl

davidmcn wrote: »

As explained above, you're probably just being thick, but I wonder what you mean by the searches have "highlighted" the charge - has your solicitor suggested there is something unusual or worrying about this charge?

Not to my knowledge, it was just included with the paperwork from searches etc

G_M

Almost certainly it is the current owners' current mortgage.

But if in doub, ask your solicttor.

TBagpuss

'charge' is simply another term for mortgage, in this context. Unless your solicitor has raised it as a concern then it's probably just the sellers own mortgage, which will be cleared on completion, but if you are not sure, ask your solicitor

moneyistooshorttomention

It is confusing that both "charges" on a house and "mortgages" on a house seem to be called "a charge".

I'd clarify in your position by asking the solicitor whether it's a "charge" (eg loan/debt) secured on the house or a "mortgage" iyswim.

It is possible to have both;

- a "charge" (ie debt) secured on a house (ie if the owner has been mismanaging their finances and a creditor has put a charge on the house to try and get their money back at some point) and also have

- a "mortgage" (ie perfectly standard method of buying a house) on that same house.

Almost certainly it's a "mortgage" being called "a charge" and nothing for you to worry about.

eddddy

All existing charges will have to be removed when the property is sold to you. The charge-holders will have to agree to this.

In this case, it sounds like the charge-holder is Nationwide - probably because they have a mortgage on the property.

Typically, the seller will agree to pay off their mortgage when it is sold, so Nationwide will agree to remove the charge. (The same would apply if there were second or third charges on the property relating to additional mortgages/loans etc.)


(However, problems can arise in some circumstances e.g. if the property was in negative equity - or if the charge was related to a divorce, owners' feud etc. The charge-holder might refuse to remove the charge, meaning that the property cannot be sold.)

G_M

but this is all standard stuff that conveyancing solicitors deal with week in week out on 90% of property purchases.

davidmcn

G_M wrote: »

but this is all standard stuff that conveyancing solicitors deal with week in week out on 90% of property purchases.

Yes - and given that this charge hasn't apparently been "highlighted" at all, there's nothing for the OP to worry about.

Well, there might be plenty of other stuff for them to worry about, but this isn't one of them.