Quick Sale Company - Unilateral Notice Land Registry

Robot27

Hello,
I inherited a property of which is in my ownership. I made the decision to sell through a national 'Quick Sale Company' of which I signed a contract for them to take over and sell the property. They convinced me they would sell the property within weeks via their portfolio of investors and they also advertised the property on regular property websites. None of this came to fruition and after 5 weeks of nothing happening I realised they really couldn't delivery the quick sale they promised.

I decided to contact them and I asked to terminate the contract of which I would have to pay £595. I reluctantly paid this but I felt so relieved that I could go down another path of selling the property.

HOWEVER, within day of terminating the contract I unexpectantly received a letter stating that this Quick Sale Company had entered a 'charges register' within the 'Unilateral Beneficary Notice' of the Land Registry.  I was mortified as no one explained verbally this would happen. 

I contacted Land Registry for an explanation and they advised me to contact the Quick Sale Company and have them remove the notice. They refused on the basis that within the tiny small print it states as follows:-

2. The Company may (but shall not be obliged to) enter notice of the Option at the Land Registry against the Title Number and the Owner consents to an agreed notice of the Option being so entered in the charges register of the Title number.

2.1. A restriction being entered in the proprietorship register is to be registered in the following terms “No disposition of the registered estate by the proprietor of the registered estate is to be registered without written consent signed on behalf of 'QUICK SALE COMPANY'.

I asked them what the £595 termination fee was for and they confirmed that was just to remove the property from selling websites and that I was still under this agreement for 6 MONTHS.  If I was to sell the property over ...example £50,000 (agreed minimum selling price I had with the quick sale company) they would want the financial difference paid to them. So if I sold it for £60,000 they would require to be paid £10,000.  If it's under £50,000 I don't need to pay them anything.

But not only that, if you look at clause 2.1 from the small print above, it states that they have to give written consent for any future sale I do within this 6 MONTHS period - they can play God?

To cut the story short I am giving great consideration of going through the complaints procedure as recommended on the Ombudsman's website.  The stress and anxiety this whole thing has caused has been immense and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Yes there is a small print clause but at no period whatsoever was this explained and even when I handed over £595 I feel I've been greatly misled.

I have not agreed to the entry on the Land Registry. My question is this..... in clause 2.1 above, do they really have the power to stop any sale I proceed with, within the 6 months period?  Do I really need their permission?

Please help me the best you can, I am very stressed and would appreciate any help (I know people will say I should have read the small print, I know this, but I feel I was extremely mis led due to their tactics)

[Deleted User]

Robot27 said:

Hello,
I inherited a property of which is in my ownership. I made the decision to sell through a national 'Quick Sale Company' of which I signed a contract for them to take over and sell the property. They convinced me they would sell the property within weeks via their portfolio of investors and they also advertised the property on regular property websites. None of this came to fruition and after 5 weeks of nothing happening I realised they really couldn't delivery the quick sale they promised.

I decided to contact them and I asked to terminate the contract of which I would have to pay £595. I reluctantly paid this but I felt so relieved that I could go down another path of selling the property.

HOWEVER, within day of terminating the contract I unexpectantly received a letter stating that this Quick Sale Company had entered a 'charges register' within the 'Unilateral Beneficary Notice' of the Land Registry.  I was mortified as no one explained verbally this would happen. 

I contacted Land Registry for an explanation and they advised me to contact the Quick Sale Company and have them remove the notice. They refused on the basis that within the tiny small print it states as follows:-

2. The Company may (but shall not be obliged to) enter notice of the Option at the Land Registry against the Title Number and the Owner consents to an agreed notice of the Option being so entered in the charges register of the Title number.

2.1. A restriction being entered in the proprietorship register is to be registered in the following terms “No disposition of the registered estate by the proprietor of the registered estate is to be registered without written consent signed on behalf of 'QUICK SALE COMPANY'.

I asked them what the £595 termination fee was for and they confirmed that was just to remove the property from selling websites and that I was still under this agreement for 6 MONTHS.  If I was to sell the property over ...example £50,000 (agreed minimum selling price I had with the quick sale company) they would want the financial difference paid to them. So if I sold it for £60,000 they would require to be paid £10,000.  If it's under £50,000 I don't need to pay them anything.

But not only that, if you look at clause 2.1 from the small print above, it states that they have to give written consent for any future sale I do within this 6 MONTHS period - they can play God?

To cut the story short I am giving great consideration of going through the complaints procedure as recommended on the Ombudsman's website.  The stress and anxiety this whole thing has caused has been immense and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Yes there is a small print clause but at no period whatsoever was this explained and even when I handed over £595 I feel I've been greatly misled.

I have not agreed to the entry on the Land Registry. My question is this..... in clause 2.1 above, do they really have the power to stop any sale I proceed with, within the 6 months period?  Do I really need their permission?

Please help me the best you can, I am very stressed and would appreciate any help (I know people will say I should have read the small print, I know this, but I feel I was extremely mis led due to their tactics)

Who actually owns the property?  You, as in probate has been granted and ownership has passed to you, or is the property still owned by the estate?

What tactics did this company use that mislead you?  The contract seems clear and if you signed it then you did agree to this and it very much sounds as if the company can do it and have done it.  Have you has a solicitor look over the contract?

Robot27

Lover_of_Lycra said:

Robot27 said:

Hello,
I inherited a property of which is in my ownership. I made the decision to sell through a national 'Quick Sale Company' of which I signed a contract for them to take over and sell the property. They convinced me they would sell the property within weeks via their portfolio of investors and they also advertised the property on regular property websites. None of this came to fruition and after 5 weeks of nothing happening I realised they really couldn't delivery the quick sale they promised.

I decided to contact them and I asked to terminate the contract of which I would have to pay £595. I reluctantly paid this but I felt so relieved that I could go down another path of selling the property.

HOWEVER, within day of terminating the contract I unexpectantly received a letter stating that this Quick Sale Company had entered a 'charges register' within the 'Unilateral Beneficary Notice' of the Land Registry.  I was mortified as no one explained verbally this would happen. 

I contacted Land Registry for an explanation and they advised me to contact the Quick Sale Company and have them remove the notice. They refused on the basis that within the tiny small print it states as follows:-

2. The Company may (but shall not be obliged to) enter notice of the Option at the Land Registry against the Title Number and the Owner consents to an agreed notice of the Option being so entered in the charges register of the Title number.

2.1. A restriction being entered in the proprietorship register is to be registered in the following terms “No disposition of the registered estate by the proprietor of the registered estate is to be registered without written consent signed on behalf of 'QUICK SALE COMPANY'.

I asked them what the £595 termination fee was for and they confirmed that was just to remove the property from selling websites and that I was still under this agreement for 6 MONTHS.  If I was to sell the property over ...example £50,000 (agreed minimum selling price I had with the quick sale company) they would want the financial difference paid to them. So if I sold it for £60,000 they would require to be paid £10,000.  If it's under £50,000 I don't need to pay them anything.

But not only that, if you look at clause 2.1 from the small print above, it states that they have to give written consent for any future sale I do within this 6 MONTHS period - they can play God?

To cut the story short I am giving great consideration of going through the complaints procedure as recommended on the Ombudsman's website.  The stress and anxiety this whole thing has caused has been immense and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Yes there is a small print clause but at no period whatsoever was this explained and even when I handed over £595 I feel I've been greatly misled.

I have not agreed to the entry on the Land Registry. My question is this..... in clause 2.1 above, do they really have the power to stop any sale I proceed with, within the 6 months period?  Do I really need their permission?

Please help me the best you can, I am very stressed and would appreciate any help (I know people will say I should have read the small print, I know this, but I feel I was extremely mis led due to their tactics)

Who actually owns the property?  You, as in probate has been granted and ownership has passed to you, or is the property still owned by the estate?

What tactics did this company use that mislead you?  The contract seems clear and if you signed it then you did agree to this and it very much sounds as if the company can do it and have done it.  Have you has a solicitor look over the contract?

Thanks for the reply.

1) I own the property after probate was granted

2) We originally met up with a surveyor from the Quick Sale company at the property in question. Who very quickly ran through the contract in 10 minutes in the kitchen. He did very quickly mention the six month contract and the fees for early termination. When I enquired about this six month contract he brushed over it hastily mentioned the reason it's there is so that if there are hiccups in the conveyancing stage then the lawyers have the time to sort it out. – nothing at all about being tied down for six months for other reasons, so I paid what I was told would be the £595 for termination. If this was the case I would have not proceeded, because by definition six months this is NOT a quick sale as promised. No where on the website or sales pitch does it state 6 months, it states 4-6 weeks sale by either the Quick Sale company or one of their portfolio of investors (if they exist).  The clauses are in very small print and were never emphasised before, during or at termination  stage of the entire process.

So its on these points above I feel Ive been misled. 

eddddy

It sounds like you signed an 'Option Agreement' which is valid for 6 months.

That's a very serious document. You should take a solicitor's advice before signing something like that - although I guess the quick sale company didn't tell you that. (But you should at least have read the agreement thoroughly to get a reasonable understanding of what it meant.)

You could show the agreement to a solicitor, and explain that you feel you were misled. But fighting the company might take more than 6 months anyway, plus a legal bill. Or you may find a loophole in the agreement, like you can market the property now, as long as you don't exchange contracts .within the 6 month period (but, tbh, I doubt it).


Maybe you should report the company to Trading Standards via Citizens advice, to help protect others from this company...

... but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a confidentiality clause in the agreement, which is intended to stop you complaining about the agreement to the authorities, and to the press etc.

Robot27

eddddy said:

It sounds like you signed an 'Option Agreement' which is valid for 6 months.

That's a very serious document. You should take a solicitor's advice before signing something like that - although I guess the quick sale company didn't tell you that. (But you should at least have read the agreement thoroughly to get a reasonable understanding of what it meant.)

You could show the agreement to a solicitor, and explain that you feel you were misled. But fighting the company might take more than 6 months anyway, plus a legal bill. Or you may find a loophole in the agreement, like you can market the property now, as long as you don't exchange contracts .within the 6 month period (but, tbh, I doubt it).


Maybe you should report the company to Trading Standards via Citizens advice, to help protect others from this company...

... but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a confidentiality clause in the agreement, which is intended to stop you complaining about the agreement to the authorities, and to the press etc.

Thanks Eddie.  It is an Option Agreement and everything you said makes sense.  Unfortunately I signed it months ago and I was made to feel comfortable in signing it, and unfortunatly I did and I feel stupid, stressed and anxious..  There is a BBC report about the tactics  these companies use and I fell for it.

I think its probably best I take this on the chin, go through a selling process and just give them their cut if it sells over a certain price. 

I still can't believe they possibly have the final say on whether I sell the property though?

jimbog

Robot27 said:

 Unfortunately I signed it months ago 

How many months to go? Would it be best to wait it out? Or arrange to sell with a completion date after the six months are up?

Robot27

jimbog said:

Robot27 said:

 Unfortunately I signed it months ago 

How many months to go? Would it be best to wait it out? Or arrange to sell with a completion date after the six months are up?

No Jim. I wish I could hang on for several months, but I have no option to sell fast.  Thanks.