Conveyancing gone wrong

Janerak04

I just got my ground rent bill through and it said Mr and Mrs on it and has done for years but I bought Mr out of the house 9 years ago.i have never thought about it but I phoned the ground rent people up to get it changed and they said a notice of assignment and notice of change hadn't been done and I was in breach of my lease. What can I do ? The solicitor is still trading but won't return my calls or emails.

Comms69

Janerak04 wrote: »

I just got my ground rent bill through and it said Mr and Mrs on it and has done for years but I bought Mr out of the house 9 years ago.i have never thought about it but I phoned the ground rent people up to get it changed and they said a notice of assignment and notice of change hadn't been done and I was in breach of my lease. What can I do ? The solicitor is still trading but won't return my calls or emails.

If it's a proper solicitor, you can remind them that the contact details for the SRA are available on google... That will likely prompt their response.

Tiglet2

The solicitor you used for the purchase may not have any paperwork from 9 years ago. Many firms only keep files for 6 years, after which they are destroyed.

eddddy

Janerak04 wrote: »

i have never thought about it but I phoned the ground rent people up to get it changed and they said a notice of assignment and notice of change hadn't been done and I was in breach of my lease. What can I do ? The solicitor is still trading but won't return my calls or emails.

It's also possible that it's your freeholder's error - they received the notice, but didn't action it.

I suspect that you won't get to the bottom of this after 9 years - but do you have any relevant documentation from the solicitor 9 years ago? e.g. A statement from the solicitor showing that the freeholder's assignment fee had been paid (or would be paid)?

Was a mortgage involved?

If you're not getting anywhere with the solicitor, you could try saying something to the freeholder like:

"This assignment was handled by my solicitor [who was also acting on behalf of my mortgage lender]. I think it's very unlikely that my solicitor would have failed in his duty to myself [and the mortgage lender] by failing to serve the relevant notices to you.

However, given the time that has passed, it may be impossible to determine where the fault lies.

So I think we should concentrate on making sure that you have the correct assignment details, so that you can ensure that your records are correct. Please tell me what information you need in order to update your records."

A freeholder would normally charge a fee for dealing with this. But maybe try pushing them not to charge, as it may have been their mistake.

G_M

When did you and Mr buy he house?
Was a mortgage involved?
When you 'bought him out' 9 years ago, did you use a solicitor? The same one as the original purchase?
Was a mortgage involved?
Did you get an updated copy of the LR Title showing your sole name?

Janerak04

Thank you for all your replies. I sent a letter off and I got a reply to say that it was now all sorted and all future correspondence would just be in my name. Thanks