Legal issue, property left empty - who owns it?

Flugelhorn

roof will probably be leaking by now 

t8769

He owned the garate, and left some cars in there, then left the country.
The cars were valuable classics, and he saw one of them for sale recently online.
As for the garage, he's not sure who is using it now, but he was the legal owner 20 years ago.


Thanks for the advice. 

Section62

t8769 said:

He owned the garate, and left some cars in there, then left the country.
The cars were valuable classics, and he saw one of them for sale recently online.
As for the garage, he's not sure who is using it now, but he was the legal owner 20 years ago.


Thanks for the advice. 

You said "A friend went out of the country, leaving a garage empty for 20 years.", now the garage had some valuable classic cars in it which a third party is trying to sell/has sold.

If your friend wants good advice then they need to get their story straight and clear.

If the car is still for sale they should contact the site and report that the advert relates to an item they own, not the reputed seller.

silvercar

t8769 said:

He owned the garate, and left some cars in there, then left the country.
The cars were valuable classics, and he saw one of them for sale recently online.
As for the garage, he's not sure who is using it now, but he was the legal owner 20 years ago.


Thanks for the advice. 

A bigger garage than I imagined. I was thinking of a row of garages in a block, often rented out by the council or similar. If it stored a few cars then it must be of some size. Probably sufficient to have its' own title deed at Land Registry. Search on the official Land Registry site here: https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry. (Use the map option if there is no unambiguous address.) You are looking to see when it last changed hands and who is the owner.

It could be a leasehold garage on freehold land, possibly your friend failed to pay ground rent for a number of years and the freeholder to action. This could result in your friend forfeiting the lease. Maybe there were notes served on the property that went unanswered. Until you find out who now owns it, you won't know what has happened. If the cars are only now for sale, it suggests something has happened quite recently.

It is worth everyone who owns property, particularly if they don't access it regularly, to use the LR property alert service. This will keep you informed if there is any change on the deeds eg a charge or new ownership. It is a free service. Starting point is here: https://propertyalert.landregistry.gov.uk/

user1977

Section62 said:

t8769 said:

He owned the garate, and left some cars in there, then left the country.
The cars were valuable classics, and he saw one of them for sale recently online.
As for the garage, he's not sure who is using it now, but he was the legal owner 20 years ago.


Thanks for the advice. 

You said "A friend went out of the country, leaving a garage empty for 20 years.", now the garage had some valuable classic cars in it which a third party is trying to sell/has sold.

If your friend wants good advice then they need to get their story straight and clear.

And it might be simpler if they posted here rather than us playing Chinese whispers via their friend.

But really, they left a property, and several "classic" cars, for two decades without anybody even keeping an eye on things? Sounds like somebody wealthy enough to afford some proper legal advice...

GDB2222

user1977 said:

Section62 said:

t8769 said:

He owned the garate, and left some cars in there, then left the country.
The cars were valuable classics, and he saw one of them for sale recently online.
As for the garage, he's not sure who is using it now, but he was the legal owner 20 years ago.


Thanks for the advice. 

You said "A friend went out of the country, leaving a garage empty for 20 years.", now the garage had some valuable classic cars in it which a third party is trying to sell/has sold.

If your friend wants good advice then they need to get their story straight and clear.

And it might be simpler if they posted here rather than us playing Chinese whispers via their friend.

But really, they left a property, and several "classic" cars, for two decades without anybody even keeping an eye on things? Sounds like somebody wealthy enough to afford some proper legal advice...

The cars probably weren’t classic at the time they were left.

It is possible to get adverse possession of the garage, but not of the cars. So, selling the cars might interest the police. 

sevenhills

user1977 said:

And it might be simpler if they posted here rather than us playing Chinese whispers via their friend.

With council tax payable, we are probably wasting our time speculating.

Ath_Wat

This just doesn't make any sense.  Why did he leave the country leaving several valuable classic cars in a garage, then do nothing about it for 20 years, especially if, as you say in your first post "he doesn't have money"?

You will get no worthwhile advice here as nobody, not least yourself, really has a clue what happened.

thegreenone

Does friend have proof (DVLA etc) the cars are his?

pinkshoes

t8769 said:

He owned the garate, and left some cars in there, then left the country.
The cars were valuable classics, and he saw one of them for sale recently online.
As for the garage, he's not sure who is using it now, but he was the legal owner 20 years ago.


Thanks for the advice. 

Perhaps the owner can post instead of you?

If he is still abroad then he needs someone locally to help on his behalf, so either a good friend willing to do it for free, pay someone to do it, or come back and sort it out.

Cars meaning more than one implies more than just a double garage?? Freehold or leasehold?? And surely it's not hard to prove that the cars are his with the logbooks etc... (or did he leave them in the garage too in the car?).

Perhaps it was leasehold, he didn't pay the leasehold fee, so it has been repossessed and the cars sold to pay some of the money owed?

Surely he starts by contacting the place selling the cars to let them know he is the legal owner and they do not have permission to sell it.

Perhaps someone is hoping he comes forward to pay any outstanding debt and sort out the issue?

Who knows...