Issue with selling property which has two titles, one in the wrong name.

RAS

Can you find a solicitor local to the second owner, agree a few potential appointments with them and take the solicitor  to see the owner?

She may have swollen legs and be a bit agrophobic/have other needs that make leaving the house difficult, particularly with a stranger. 

Fred2023

RAS said:

Can you find a solicitor local to the second owner, agree a few potential appointments with them and take the solicitor  to see the owner?

She may have swollen legs and be a bit agrophobic/have other needs that make leaving the house difficult, particularly with a stranger. 

Yes I could but the problem is would she see them. When I first went to see the female everything was fine and we seemed to get on ok and I gave her my contact details and arranged the visit to the solicitor and also agreed to bring her friend with us. She then made absolutely no contact with me and allowed me to travel all the way to her house before being told she was ill in bed. To get a solicitor to make a home visit costs a great deal of money and what is to say the female will do exactly the same thing and not see them. I really do not trust this female for making an appointment.

user1977

RAS said:

Can you find a solicitor local to the second owner, agree a few potential appointments with them and take the solicitor  to see the owner?

A solicitor isn't going to pop round for a home visit to a potential client on the request of a third party who is trying to get the other party to sign something! Huge conflict problems, leaving aside the risk of not getting paid for having their time wasted.

GDB2222

Fred2023 said:

She claims she does not get out much due to her swollen legs. There is absolutely no way she would go there herself. I have bent over backwards to help her and I was as nice as I could possibly be, I brought my wife to speak to her, so she would feel at ease. I really had to bite my tongue as I knew if she could get to the solicitor this would be the easiest option.  Believe me unless you have actually met the female, you would know what I am talking about when I say she just does not want to help.
I have found out you can lodge a court case for redemption, whereby the court will decide if there was a mistake somewhere by the solicitor, so you don't actually take the female to court but the case. If the judge rules in my favour though, the court costs go to the female, as she has been given every opportunity to sort this matter out of court, so yes I said it slightly wrong in my last post, I won't be actually taking the female to court. Again though, time and money for me, and not something I want to do but what else can I do.
Yes she has allthe paperwork with her to take to the solicitor and letters from my solicitor explaining what to do but clearly she has not done any of this.

The court costs may be her liability, but she may not have any money. It would be worth spending yet another £3 at the LR to check whether she owns the house she lives in. If not, and she is renting, it would be sensible to assume that you will have to bear all the costs yourself.

If that is the case, you may want to choose the cheapest option.  

However annoying this woman is, and I assume she has mental health problems, your cheapest option is to continue to try to work with her to get the document signed. 

To save wasted time travelling, perhaps you could liaise with her friend and family member, so you catch her on a good day. 

That is also the quickest route, and I can’t imagine that your buyers will hang on while you go through the courts, so it is the only route that may save your current sale. 

Finally, have you considered the adverse possession route? 

Fred2023

Hi GDB2222, can I ask exactly what the 'adverse possession route' is, and how do I go about that? That is something my solicitor has not mentioned.

GDB2222

 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adverse-possession-of-registered-land/practice-guide-4-adverse-possession-of-registered-land

user1977

I did suggest adverse possession back on page 1...

GDB2222

The attractive part about adverse possession is that you make the application to the LR, and then the current owners of the property need to object if they want to oppose the application. It sounds like the husband doesn’t oppose it, and the wife doesn’t want to get involved. So, it would probably just sail through unopposed.

What I am not clear about is how long it all takes. I don’t think that it is very costly. 

GDB2222

user1977 said:

I did suggest adverse possession back on page 1...

That’s why I didn’t mention it again until now.

propertyrental

I suspect that rather than being 'ill', she's been advised by family not to get coerced into going to a solicitor with a stranger to sign a document she does not fully understand...