Just found out the property I mam buying is sold with limited title guarantee

taklamakan

Hi, it's been a few months since my offer for the property has been accepted. My mortgage offer came through a few weeks ago. Yesterday a property report came from my solicitors and I just found out the property is sold with limited title guarantee. The estate agent has sent me many emails and documents, inc memorandum of sale, brochures, etc and has never informed me this is probate property neither advertised it as such. The estate agent has always been using the words "vendor" and "seller" with regards to the daughter of the deceased owner, who was executing the sale of the property, where in fact they should have called her an executor or administrator. I feel I have been mislead. If I knew this was a probate property I would never put my offer through. I spent £385 on the survey, £360 on searches and £199 on mortgage application. My question is, do I have a good case against the estate agent to recover that money?

BlondBoy

No - the executor is the vendor/seller. That’s absolutely correct.  

Limited title guarantee just means the seller doesn’t know as much about the property as someone who has lived there.

What’s worrying you about buying a probate property?  Are there specific questions you have that you can’t get answers to?

SiliconChip

What is your issue with it being a probate sale? It's really little different to any other sale except that some information on the property may be a little sketchy, in which case you should just do your own due diligence to answer any questions that the vendors can't.

Tiglet2

The estate agent works for the vendor/seller and they act as a salesman to sell the property.  They are not legal experts and don't profess to be.  You won't be able to recover any money from the estate agent.

However, nearly all probate properties are sold with limited title guarantee.  It merely means that the person selling the property is not the registered proprietor on the title (instead they are the executor of the estate) and they do not have particular knowledge of the property that the owner would have had.

Has probate been granted?

user1977

taklamakan said:

If I knew this was a probate property I would never put my offer through.

Why not? I don't see the problem from what you've told us.

Keep_pedalling

As long as probate has already been obtained there should be no issue.

taklamakan

Yes probate been granted. 

I know what limited title guarantee is. I just spent hours reading about it

What's worrying me? Well, it's surely not the condition of the property as I had a survey done so all defects have been mentioned and I am aware of the "caveat emptor" principle.

I was offered two separate indemnity insurance policies. One is against the works that have been done downstairs to create an open plan living room. The other policy is against some legal stuff mentioned in the title like right of way, etc.

But what's worrying me is that the person selling cannot guarantee that the property is not subject to any financial charges.

What if there is some kind of contract the deceased signed against the property, that might be enforceable by someone in the future (the person that signed the contract with the deceased). 

How do I check if there are no such contracts or liens against the property? How do I protect myself from this?

user1977

taklamakan said:

How do I check if there are no such contracts or liens against the property? How do I protect myself from this?

You seek advice from your solicitor on whether this is something you ought to worry about. I very much doubt it is, though.

Why is this a different risk compared with buying from anybody else? A vendor who is still alive might be lying (or forgotten) about such things, if they were even enforceable against you.

BlondBoy

It’s your solicitor’s job to check for the things you’re worried about. They do it for every property, not just probate properties. Ask them - it’s what you’re paying them for.  

Any charges secured against the property will be on the title, probate or not. And your solicitor will find that. it’s one of the first things they check.

taklamakan

BlondBoy said:

It’s your solicitor’s job to check for the things you’re worried about. They do it for every property, not just probate properties. Ask them - it’s what you’re paying them for.  

Any charges secured against the property will be on the title, probate or not. And your solicitor will find that. it’s one of the first things they check.

I have a copy of the title and it doesn't mention any charges secured against the property. Does it mean that property is 100% debt / lien free?

user1977

taklamakan said:

BlondBoy said:

It’s your solicitor’s job to check for the things you’re worried about. They do it for every property, not just probate properties. Ask them - it’s what you’re paying them for.  

Any charges secured against the property will be on the title, probate or not. And your solicitor will find that. it’s one of the first things they check.

I have a copy of the title and it doesn't mention any charges secured against the property. Does it mean that property is 100% debt / lien free?

The whole point of a secured loan is that there's a charge registered against the property. If there was one (which obviously is pretty normal if the seller has a mortgage) then the solicitors make sure that's discharged simultaneously with the sale. If you're buying with a mortgage, then your own lender would also want that done anyway. Unsecured loans are (as the name suggests) not secured against the property - they follow the borrower, they're not somehow stuck to the property.

Talk to your solicitor if you don't understand what's going on - certainly before you decide to walk away from a property!