Freehold solicitors want to take my property away

The_Idiot

Hello,

I purchased a property way back in around early 2016 and a months ago I got a letter in the post informing me that my property was registered under the wrong persons name on the freehold and that the solicitors on behalf of the freehold would start proceedings to take the property away from me. Naturally I sent this information to the solicitors that dealt with the initial purchase and the correspondance has come back. Turns out my solicitor didnt serve notice of transfer and notice of mortgage to the "correct" party, which could have all have been avoided (According to the solicitors that are trying to start proceedings against me) had my solicitors undertaken a Land Registry search at a cost.

Coming full circle - Apparently I owe £170 for notice of assignment and notice of mortgage, £110 for their costs (freehold solicitors), and £160 for the Deed of Covenant. This is my first property, so I left it all to my solicitors who I paid to do it - how exactly do I proceed from this and what assurances do I have they I wont have people knocking on my door asking for double in the next 2 years provided I still live there?

Tiglet2

You paid your solicitors to do the legal work for your purchase of the property. Your property is leasehold and there are extra fees for leasehold notices, which are not included within the fees charged by your solicitor. These fees are those charged by the freeholder or management company for their admin work involved in listing you as the new owner, noting a new charge on the property and a new direct debit/bank account from which the service charges and ground rent are paid. If you look back to your correspondence received from your solicitors, they will have asked you for the money for these notices. If you have not paid for the notices, then the freeholder will not change their records and will continue to address correspondence to the previous owner. Your solicitor will also not be able to register you as the new owner at Land Registry and not be able to register the new charge to your lender.

The freeholder won't take your property away from you but you do need to pay the fees. Your solicitor would not have been able to serve notice of transfer and notice of mortgage unless the fee had been paid for, so actually although you say your solicitor didn't serve notice, that is totally because you didn't pay the freeholder's fees.

If you don't want people knocking on your door, I suggest you pay the fees immediately, so the solicitor can register you as the new owner.

The_Idiot

Hello, apologies if I've come off as a bit panicky I might not have made sense in my initial post - I've paid these fees, and apparently the information was sent to the wrong organisation. The correspondence i have from my solicitors proves that my solicitors didnt contact the correct people.

Tiglet2

In which case, your solicitor needs to correct their error. Send them a copy of the letter you've received and let them know how dismayed you are that you are still not listed as the registered owner and that you expect them to rectify the problem urgently! Maybe contact the solicitor's Client Care Manager and make a complaint.

G_M

Escalate this as a formal complaint.

Look up your solicitor's complaints procedure.

eddddy

So it sounds like your freeholder is threatening Forfeiture of lease (i.e. repossession) for breach of lease and/or non-payment of service charges.

Probably the first thing to do is remedy the breach (i.e. make sure the solicitor serves the correct notice on the freeholders) and pay the service charges.

Until you do that, your lease probably allows the freeholder to charge you more and more legal fees and late fees.

And once the breach is remedied and the service charge paid, the freeholder can't take any forfeiture proceedings.

Then, assuming this was the solicitor's error, concentrate on getting the solicitor to refund you any legal fees, late fees etc that you've had to pay.

The_Idiot

Thank you, also I was wondering - The condition i purchased the property on was that the lease be extended. Am I to assume that since they've made this very big mistake (Or am I mistaken and its not that much of a big deal?) that it would be wise to ask that they disclose all of the work they did and prove to me without a shadow of a doubt that its all completed? I suffer fromAnxiety disorders and I'm having trouble coping because I believe that they have not done the job I have asked and paid them to do.

The_Idiot

Hey eddddy,

Just a quick one but ive paid and kept up to date with all my service charges, council taxes etc. There is nothing outstanding on my service charges.