Administrator trying to sell my investment

ashpan

Not sure if this is the right forum- please move if not. I am an investor in the failed NPD group of companies. I own the lease on a hotel room and I’ve discovered HSBC had a charge on the property prior to my purchase which My solicitors failed to inform me of. The court appointed administrators are going to court on Monday to try to get consent to sell all the properties in the group. I would like the chance to litigate against my solicitor for failing to do a proper search.
Is there any way they can over-ride my lease and how can I prevent this from happening?

eskbanker

Do you believe that the terms of your (sub-)"lease" of a room would prevent the sale of the property itself?

If you have clear evidence that your solicitor has been negligent then you could indeed litigate against them but it should go without saying that you'd need to construct a completely watertight case against them, given their inherent advantage in knowing the law inside out....

SeniorSam

Your solicitors seem to be neglegent in not advising you of a charge against a purchase. You have the right to take action accordingly. Write to them with a heading on your letter of 'OFFICIAL COMPLAINT' they will then have to refer this to the Ombudsman and they wont like that at all.

Browntoa

As soon I see "lease hotel room " I saw bad investment choice

AnotherJoe

Why does the fact there's a charge on the property make any difference ?
You were buying a lease on a hotel room, not the property itself so it's obvious that the fabric of the hotel was owned by someone else, what difference does the fact there was a mortgage on that, make?
It's little different to buying a flat within a block, the freeholder can always take a mortgage out against it at any time.
Suppose that your solicitor did do a search and there wasn't a charge against the property.. then 5 minutes after you completed NPD took out a mortgage on it? So, searches wouldn't have protected you from this eventuality. .
I'd say, therefore, this would just be throwing good money after bad. Your solicitor was duty bound to ensure the lease was solid, not the business case.

AnotherJoe

SeniorSam wrote: »

Your solicitors seem to be neglegent in not advising you of a charge against a purchase. You have the right to take action accordingly. Write to them with a heading on your letter of 'OFFICIAL COMPLAINT' they will then have to refer this to the Ombudsman and they wont like that at all.

The charge isn't against their purchase. It's against the building which is a totally different entity to a hotel room lease.
What's the complaint? That the building can be mortgaged? No **** Sherlock.

Browntoa

I bet your lease has small print saying "in the event that the owner goes into administration " rights of lease annulled

AnotherJoe

Browntoa wrote: »

I bet your lease has small print saying "in the event that the owner goes into administration " rights of lease annulled

I'd be confident it doesn't, for two reasons;
1. There would be no advantage to NPD putting such a clause in since by definition it wouldnt help them, plus such a clause would scare lease buyers away.

2. If there was such a clause it would be common knowledge by now, its not as if this all happened yesterday

doe808

ashpan wrote: »

Not sure if this is the right forum- please move if not. I am an investor in the failed NPD group of companies. I own the lease on a hotel room and I’ve discovered HSBC had a charge on the property prior to my purchase which My solicitors failed to inform me of. The court appointed administrators are going to court on Monday to try to get consent to sell all the properties in the group. I would like the chance to litigate against my solicitor for failing to do a proper search.
Is there any way they can over-ride my lease and how can I prevent this from happening?

Your lease will allow this, and even if not stated, the law does. Further, Administrators have the power to disclaim leases in certain citcumstances (eg, your lease).



Logically though, you would think there would be a charge over the property, wouldn't you not? You must have understood the structure before you invested?



Complain against your solicitor (via the LS), but again expect this to cost time/money (if defended). Hopefully, as a high risk investment, this formed only a small part of your portfolio, and doesnt cause you too much hurt.



Good Luck

AnotherJoe

ps the title of this post is

Administrator trying to sell my investment

but that's not correct, they are trying to sell the freehold of the hotel, which isn't your investment.