Old Names Still on Land Registry Title

GothonaBrompton

I'm unfortunately in the process of removing my husband's name from the title of our property as he recently passed away.

We have lived here for 31 years and in 2016 we bought the freehold jointly with the downstairs, as the building consists of 2 maisonettes. We are upstairs.

The lease was extended and the duration is correct on the title, as is the Proprietorship Details for myself and my husband (to be amended).  However, the downstairs was sold a year or so later (2017/2018?) and the Proprietorship (freehold share) details and lease registration still reflect the previous owners.  They have not been updated to reflect the new neighbours.

I may not stay in this property once probate is granted, so I am concerned that this omission may cause delays in the sale. When the previous owners moved, I recall we had to sign some documents as well.  Not sure what they were. 

I am still in contact with them but they have moved back to Poland now, so if there are any details needed from them when I come to sell, is this something that my solicitor can handle?

Land_Registry

GothonaBrompton said:

I'm unfortunately in the process of removing my husband's name from the title of our property as he recently passed away.

We have lived here for 31 years and in 2016 we bought the freehold jointly with the downstairs, as the building consists of 2 maisonettes. We are upstairs.

The lease was extended and the duration is correct on the title, as is the Proprietorship Details for myself and my husband (to be amended).  However, the downstairs was sold a year or so later (2017/2018?) and the Proprietorship (freehold share) details and lease registration still reflect the previous owners.  They have not been updated to reflect the new neighbours.

I may not stay in this property once probate is granted, so I am concerned that this omission may cause delays in the sale. When the previous owners moved, I recall we had to sign some documents as well.  Not sure what they were. 

I am still in contact with them but they have moved back to Poland now, so if there are any details needed from them when I come to sell, is this something that my solicitor can handle?

I’m sorry to read of your loss. 

If you are selling both your share in the freehold and your own leasehold and the former is still in the old names then it will be a problem .
The downstairs owner needs to confirm matters with their conveyancer 

GothonaBrompton

Just to be clear, the details for our share have been updated correctly, for both freehold and lease. The people who bought downstairs are not reflected on either the lease or freehold share for the other property. Is this something that can be corrected by my solicitor, provided the appropriate forms are completed and signed by downstairs, even though this does seem to be an mistake by their original conveyancer. They were young first time buyers so would have signed multiple forms but wouldn’t know to check something like this.

When we bought the freehold, we had to chase our conveyancer at the time to do the same thing, they missed it too. Looks like an irritatingly common mistake.

Land_Registry

GothonaBrompton said:

Just to be clear, the details for our share have been updated correctly, for both freehold and lease. The people who bought downstairs are not reflected on either the lease or freehold share for the other property. Is this something that can be corrected by my solicitor, provided the appropriate forms are completed and signed by downstairs, even though this does seem to be an mistake by their original conveyancer. They were young first time buyers so would have signed multiple forms but wouldn’t know to check something like this.

When we bought the freehold, we had to chase our conveyancer at the time to do the same thing, they missed it too. Looks like an irritatingly common mistake.

If they bought then the necessary forms should have been completed and then registered. If they weren’t then you either track them down and sort it or you repeat the legal documents and apply afresh. 

Anyone can do the latter 

GothonaBrompton

That takes a load of my mind to know it can at least be rectified by repeating, annoying though it is.

TBagpuss

IT would be very much in your neighbours interests to rectify it - it would be a much bigger issue for them, when they come to sell. It sounds as though their conveyancer did not register the change in ownership - their conveyancers ought to be able to fix it - I am surprised it wasn't picked up on as normally mortgage lenders want confirmation that their charge has been registered, which is usually done with the registration of the change of ownership.

If they don't have or have lost the paperwork the fact you still have contact details for the previous owners should help a lot.

GothonaBrompton

Indeed, but given how much chasing I had to do when we bought the freehold and extended the underlease, I'm not surprised, our conveyancer did exactly the same. Because it was about 5 years before we paid off the mortgage, we wanted to be sure that our side was reflected. In case we ever needed to sell - never thinking that actually my husband would pass away this year, and I'd be considering moving because of that