Lack of Building Regulations & Defective Title Indemnity Insurance

Alberthewolf

Doozergirl wrote: »

Hang on. You used the same conveyancer (solicitor) as your vendor?!

Can you explain this further please? Same firm or same person? Why did you use the person you did? How did you come across them? Was it the person that converted the flats (freeholder) that sold it to you or someone that bought the one flat before you?

From the mountain of papers I got via the subject access request I found out (much later) that the lenders appointed the same conveyance solicitor that we appointed and he acted for both us and the lenders. The conveyance solicitor was appointed by the other person who purchased the lease together with me with a joint-mortgage.

Save for providing my signature when required to do so, I had no involvement whatsoever during the whole conveyance and purchasing process with neither the conveyancer nor the structural engineers or the lenders.

All the conveyancing, structural surveying and mortgage papers were arranged by the other person who purchased the lease with me. They provided conveyance and structural report to the other person. The only document I was given at the time of my conveyance is the conveyance report.

Doozergirl wrote: »

Did you speak to your solicitor when the problems started? What did they say?

I never had any interaction with our conveyance solicitor until when many years later I discovered by mere chance all the truth about the lack of compliance with building regulations after contacting the council's planning dep to arrange a possible sale.

It was then that I begun questioning and demanded all the conveyance documentation and learnt that the solicitor acted for both parties concealing from me the existence of the indemnity insurance policy and much more than that. Defective title, no compliance with building regulations, defective lease with crucial missing pages (the pages regarding the freeholder obligation to repair the roofs is missing, not even the land registry has these missing pages...), the lenders refused to provide me with a copy of the lease and any other document they received from our conveyancer. Same as the council, the lenders and the owner of the building.

After I went through the papers from our solicitor I begun questioning the other person who purchased the flat with me asking what info was given by the conveyancer and by the structural surveyor he appointed. I was met with silence. This person is also refusing to say what info was given during the conveyance and still refusing to make any comment.

Doozergirl wrote: »

Are you in the roof or not? Do you have a mortgage?

After I begun questioning the joint-owner of my home, the other person started to send people trying to evict me by force to force the sale of the property (my home) after I started questioning. I had to call the 999 several times to ask for help.

I then tried to cooperate for a possible sale and provided a copy of my home key to the estate agents appointed by the other person to cooperate in achieving a prospective sale of the property.

Soon after, few days later, I came back home and found the lock was changed. I had been duped into handing over the keys and there had never been any intention of letting me have the flat back. I am without a home since then.

I am disheartened and discouraged. Any advise or opinion is welcomed. Thank you for your patience.

pinklady21

It is far from unusual for the same solicitor to work for both buyer and lender during a house purchase.

From what you now say, you are a joint owner - but of what - the whole building? A single flat in the building? A leasehold, or freehold?

You signed off on the purchase - when - 10 years ago? without looking at any papers?

You have now been locked out of what? Again, is that the whole property? a single flat within the building?

I am having great difficulty understanding what your issue really is here.

Doozergirl

What?

I told you that I expect people to be asking the wrong questions and that the real problem isn't what they're asking questions about, but when someone's asking about what info a council has to provide, I don't expect it to turn into a situation where you're actually homeless?!

If you're putting your name on the deeds of a property then it is your responsibility to do the due diligence ensuring that what you are purchasing is of sufficient quality. I'm afraid that it's really your own fault that you only signed documentation and didn't do any homework. Every question we've answered actually takes us back to it being 'caveat emptor' (buyer beware) which was absolutely the law in place at that time.

I am sorry, but your ignorance in what was happening durng conveyancing doesn't make you a wronged party, it makes you complicit.

It's perfectly normal for your solicitor to act for you and lender. I misunderstood and thought you and the vendor had the same solicitor.

I don't know why you'd contact the planning department when arranging a sale, either. It has nothing to do with them.

I'm telling you now that this proerty is probably not as defective as you think it is. You would not have a mortgage with defective title, defective lease etc. The mortgage company is not complicit, they will simply refuse to lend. There are all sorts of indemnities available, but had you actually spoken to the solicitor, they would have advised you. They didn't hide anything, you didn't ask to know. I have plenty of property dealings with our solicitor without my husband being involved - it isn't the solicitor's job to decide who does what in our relationship. But they will deal with whoever asks a question.

I don't think you have a true grasp on the process or what some of the legalese you use means. I think we have a bit of a case here of a little knowledge being dangerous.

I'm not sure what your relationship is with the other purchaser but obviously it isn't okay that you have been locked out of a home that you own. Was it a personal relationship that broke down? It is unlawful to lock you out of your own home. There are people on this board that will know more about disputes between owners than I do but it sounds like you need some solicitor's advice on how to resolve the immediate problem of your being homeless.

If your plan is to sell then you can force that to happen.

I am afraid though that any recourse you think you have about the purchasing process doesn't exist. I'm not even sure if you're looking for recourse, you just seem to be asking questions with no aim to create a resolution.

I appreciate you only have the benefit of hindsight, but you either do your own homework at the time, or you trust the other party with your life when purchasing together. It is like a financial marriage.

I do feel for you as you seem very sweet, but you have to stand up for yourself and take decisive action on things that you can control and drop the things that you cannot.

You can takenaction on getting back in, you could take action on repairs or you can take action on getting it sold. It sounds like your relationship has irretrievably broken down and so I think the last option is the most sensible. Whether you donthe first two is up to you.

Alberthewolf

pinklady21 wrote: »

It is far from unusual for the same solicitor to work for both buyer and lender during a house purchase.

From what you now say, you are a joint owner - but of what - the whole building? A single flat in the building? A leasehold, or freehold?

A converted leasehold flat

pinklady21 wrote: »

You signed off on the purchase - when - 10 years ago? without looking at any papers?

I signed the purchasing papers in 2005, the other joint-owner arranged all the conveyance and structural surveys and mortgage papers acting for me as I had no experience at all on property buying.

pinklady21 wrote: »

You have now been locked out of what? Again, is that the whole property? a single flat within the building?

From both my home and the building, both locks were changed without a warning