Title Issues - Check your title deeds post sale!

waribai

Hi,

I was hoping for some advice. We purchased a probate property in February 2021 and though one of the death certificates took a while to be processed the sale went through fine. I was then waiting for the sale record to appear on the Land Registry which eventually it did. However, around November it disappeared. This made me suspicious. I then pulled up the title on the Land Registry website and discovered that the titles were still in the names of previous late occupants.  I say title because there is another separate title for the adjoining land on which the garage stands which the previous occupant bought in later years. This was never highlighted to us and it didn't occur to me that the garage could have a separate title!

In late December, when I communicated with our solicitor who had overseen the purchase,  it transpired that the previous application (following completion of our purchase) to the Land Registry was cancelled due to the discharge from the seller's lender not being provided in time. So, they had contacted the probate company's solicitor and were waiting for their confirmation that the charge had been removed from the title. I also raised the issue of the additional title and she basically said thanks for letting her know!

I contacted our solicitor again last week and she said it is now with the land registry. As I am rather anxious about this, I then contacted the probate company's solicitor who gave me a slightly different story saying that he is currently making enquiries with the probate company about this. This made me even more worried. So, I contacted the probate company today to see if they could give me any further information. They basically told me where to go and to only communicate via my solicitor!

My question is:

1) Am I worrying over nothing and it will eventually be resolved?
2)Is this not rather negligent because if I had not flagged this issue a year later, this could have been a major headache in the future if someone was having to resolve this much later!

Thank you in advance for any advice or insight! Also, please everyone check that your title deeds have been transferred post sale!

user1977

Check the title deeds pre-sale, surely? Didn't your solicitors check with you what the extent of the property was?

If the deceased owned the garage then it will get sorted - the problem would be if they also hadn't realised that they didn't buy it from the previous owners...

waribai

Yes, they did own the garage. It's just such a tiny area and it's attached to the side of the house. So, looking at the title plan, you wouldn't think there was another title for the garage! I myself only discovered this when I searched on the land registry against our address and realised there were two titles!

Also, how about this discharge from the lender business?

user1977

waribai said:

Yes, they did own the garage. It's just such a tiny area and it's attached to the side of the house. So, looking at the title plan, you wouldn't think there was another title for the garage! I myself only discovered this when I searched on the land registry against our address and realised there were two titles!

Also, how about this discharge from the lender business?

Garages aren't usually so tiny that they disappear on title plans, but in any event I can't see where the negligence would come from. Your solicitor presumably hasn't visited the property, they rely on you to confirm that the title boundaries match what it is you think you're buying. It's not normal practice to go around checking all the surrounding titles too, unless there's some reason to do so.

I expect the discharge will be sorted out too, lenders can often be a bit rubbish in getting those done.

Kyresa

waribai said:

Yes, they did own the garage. It's just such a tiny area and it's attached to the side of the house. So, looking at the title plan, you wouldn't think there was another title for the garage! I myself only discovered this when I searched on the land registry against our address and realised there were two titles!

Also, how about this discharge from the lender business?

So when your solicitor sent you the title plan, and said confirm this is what you are buying.... what did you say?

Sistergold

So does it mean you don’t have a title for the house you bought and also don’t have title to garage and land it’s built on? Or is it just the garage which needs resolution. What did the estate agent advert say when it advertised the house was garage mentioned? 

waribai

 So the house title plan is as below. It seemed correct to me 



The garage title plan is as below.





 I would challenge anyone unfamiliar with the conveyancing process to upon looking at the first image then take the initiative and email the solicitor and say "Hey! Excuse me, where is the garage area in that plan! Let me guess there is another title for that?" Especially when the house and garage look like this!

waribai

Sistergold said:

So does it mean you don’t have a title for the house you bought and also don’t have title to garage and land it’s built on? Or is it just the garage which needs resolution. What did the estate agent advert say when it advertised the house was garage mentioned? 

No, essentially there are two titles, one for the house and one for the garage. Apparently, until the 1960s the land on which the garage is built belonged to the neighbour and it was purchased so that the previous owner (the seller) could build that lovely lime green garage. Both the house and garage titles are still in the names of the deceased previous occupants who the probate company were representing, even though we completed last February. The estate agent's advert listed house and garage and it was in all the photos and the walkaround video.

user1977

waribai said:

 So the house title plan is as below. It seemed correct to me 



The garage title plan is as below.



I would challenge anyone unfamiliar with the conveyancing process to upon looking at the first image then take the initiative and email the solicitor and say "Hey! Excuse me, where is the garage area in that plan! Let me guess there is another title for that?" Especially when the house and garage look like this!

But is the physical boundary a straight line, like it is in the "main" title? Add the titles together and you've got a bit of a kink coming in at what might be the back of the garage? Would help to see some more context.

yllop1101

I can see where you made a very fair assumption from the title deeds, especially as the garage is attached to your house, and the tiny bit in the deeds suggest otherwise (unless they're not meant to be taken so literally but then I don't know how you're really meant to confirm accuracy!). 

Thrugelmir

No one has been negligent. The only people who knew the position are dead. Just one of those things that crop on rare occasions.