Sale completed but TR1 form not signed by vendor

Snookie12cat

Just reading this. This sounds completely ridiculous and wrong that their negligence can effect you so badly and yet you can't complain or do anything about it 😡
What if you were on a tracker and need to remortgage? It's completely wrong.

strawberry*

Sistergold you have stated one of my worries. I believe he is still alive but am worried about anyone coming to a view he may need a power of attorney or pass away soon - both of which sound like it would add to a delay for us. 

I am interested in this suggestion to get the court to sign the TR1 form and am assuming that all of the fees associated with that are for us to pay? There is absolutely no recourse here for us with the vendor’s solicitor as he was not appointed by us?

Snookie12cat

strawberry* said:

Sistergold you have stated one of my worries. I believe he is still alive but am worried about anyone coming to a view he may need a power of attorney or pass away soon - both of which sound like it would add to a delay for us. 

I am interested in this suggestion to get the court to sign the TR1 form and am assuming that all of the fees associated with that are for us to pay? There is absolutely no recourse here for us with the vendor’s solicitor as he was not appointed by us?

Can you not sue the other sides solicitor? Like at a small claims court to recoup your costs?
It seems like you might be able to if they are the cause of the problems, or sue the seller who will then have to take it up with their solicitor?

GDB2222

strawberry* said:

Sistergold you have stated one of my worries. I believe he is still alive but am worried about anyone coming to a view he may need a power of attorney or pass away soon - both of which sound like it would add to a delay for us. 

I am interested in this suggestion to get the court to sign the TR1 form and am assuming that all of the fees associated with that are for us to pay? There is absolutely no recourse here for us with the vendor’s solicitor as he was not appointed by us?

I *think* you would be suing the vendor, as he has not completed. Assuming you win, you would get most of your costs back from the vendor. That's why it is so daft that the vendor refuses to sign. 

One of the solicitors has been negligent, if not both. You say that the TR1 was incorrectly drawn up, but both solicitors should have approved the draft. OTOH, if it was just incorrectly signed, the vendor's solicitor should have spotted it. 

The thing is that the vendor's solicitor has probably told your solicitor that they have a correctly signed TR1, and undertaken to pass it over after completion. You have the benefit of that undertaking, so you should be reimbursed for any costs you incur chasing the vendor.

What I would do is write to your own solicitors, saying that you are very, very distressed by this. Give them a deadline to sort it out amicably with the vendor, and say that you will be seeking advice from independent solicitors if the TR1 is not correctly signed by then. 

Also, @T@Tiglet2 wrote "Your solicitor will be regularly updating the OS1 search at Land Registry to protect your priority ". I'd ask for confirmation of that,

GDB2222

Incidentally, you are not alone. There was another query about this just last month.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78953129

pinkteapot

OP, have a read of that other thread as it’s an eye opener. I’ve bought and sold many times with no inkling it was possible for this to happen! 

I think you’ve been given great advice in the reply about court proceedings. As said there, it’s a litigation solicitor you need advice from. They’ll be able to run through with you who you take action against, and how. A threat of court action to the vendor might get things moving.

How good a relationship did you have with the EA? They’ll probably not want to be involved, but it might be worth seeing if they’ll ring the vendor to find out what he says the issue is. I’m guessing you have no means of contacting him, so if you can get anything out of them it might at least tell you if he’s still around, unwell, etc. 

Land_Registry

GDB2222 said

Also, @T@Tiglet2 wrote "Your solicitor will be regularly updating the OS1 search at Land Registry to protect your priority ". I'd ask for confirmation of that,

As the application to update the register is submitted then priority is protected. They’d only need a new OS1 (priority search) if the application was cancelled. 

Solicitor needs to be aware of cancellation deadline and request more time as appropriate. They should be aware of what’s required. 

A court can execute the TR1 but it doesn’t read as if the OP has reached that point as nothing appears to have been confirmed as to why the Vendor hasn’t now done what was contracted to be done and in which undertakings/completion was based. 

The Vendor’s solicitor is the one to resolve this for OP and escalating the issue within the firm is the way to go. The very simple Q of why can’t/isn’t it happening should have been answered by now? 

Whilst very stressful and worrying it’s that answer that should tell you how much to worry although the answer should also make it clear re what’s now needed 

strawberry*

Thanks everyone
@Land_Registry I understand that LR have cancelled the application as they received no response from my solicitor within the required timeframe. Is anyone therefore able to advise how often my solicitor should be making that OS1 request? 

The vendor’a solicitor are more or less saying there isn’t anything more they can do - they feel that sending the document twice by email and once in the post has been enough action to resolve this error. They also will not really engage well with us around this just saying that we are not their client. 

user1977

strawberry* said:

The vendor’s solicitor indicated that he has sent the vendor the TR1 by email twice and recently sent a copy in the post. The vendor is not answering the phone or returning the TR1. 

Basic stuff, but do they know they have correct contact details for the vendor? Did they buy somewhere? If not, forwarding addresses after a sale can be somewhat temporary, and it's now 11 months since the transaction.

I would think first step is to check that the vendor is alive, well, and actually refusing to cooperate, rather than somehow unaware or unable to help.

strawberry*

Hi @user1977
yes, he bought another property and the solicitor has his contact details. He has said he couldn’t open the emails when they telephoned, hence the postal version. That has not been returned either and they have left a voicemail. So all indications are he is currently alive and well.