legal question?

GDB2222

Would a freezing order show up on a standard land register search? Would an estate agent be expected to recognise it? It might just show up as a charge. 

Linton

See https://www.getagent.co.uk/blog/properties/house-sold-without-owner-knowing

Smalltownhypocrite

Lots of responses, sorry for not reply to everyone individually.

The house is listed as a probate house. The legal owner on paper is dead. We do not know who is actually trying to sell it.

The legal owner was an elderly dementia patient in long term care. During the time she was in care a large portfolio of buy to let houses where bought in her name. We have now been told that after she died while looking into the estate a bunch of 'hidden off shore bank accounts' where also found. Due to that now probate application apparently can't be applied for yet (they have been very vague but saying due to issues with laws). 

They are being deliberately vague but with the drip feed of info it seems very obvious that this was identity theft and either money laundering or tax evasion or both. The house (and apparently several others) is trapped in limbo by all of it. Maybe it hasn't been seized (I assumed if they froze probate application are investigating fraud/laundering/evasion it would be) but no one alive currently owns it.

The EA took on this whole large property portfolio to sell (we had no idea there was more than one house). They listed it over a year ago when the owner first died but then quickly took it down and then relisted it January this year. I assume its hard for them to say they had no idea there where issues or even that the situation looked dodgy (even without knowing about offshore accounts). 

None of this was told to us, as far as it was made out to us an old lady in care died and her family where just selling the old family home and we where told probate had been applied for which was a blatant lie.

Its no longer the local EA who took our offer that is talking to us but now the named owner of the company who has intercepted and just keeps mentioning that he is talking to solicitors and 'chasing it'.

user1977

Smalltownhypocrite said:

They are being deliberately vague but with the drip feed of info it seems very obvious that this was identity theft and either money laundering or tax evasion or both.

To me, that's not a very obvious leap, unless there is more information you haven't told us about. Complications with probate cases can take a long time to sort out, whether or not anything unlawful is going on. I wouldn't expect estate agents to go beyond checking that the clients appear to be qualified to be executors and apply for probate.

Smalltownhypocrite

EA has updated that the solicitor has confirmed they are no longer applying for probate in England for the houses and are prioritizing going after the 'off shore assets' which fall under different countries laws. So I guess we just aren't getting the house and will lose all the money we spent.

I can't see any scenario where the whole thing isn't dodgy. Who just walks away and doesn't apply for probate on hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of property?

Bookworm105

Smalltownhypocrite said:

EA has updated that the solicitor has confirmed they are no longer applying for probate in England for the houses and are prioritizing going after the 'off shore assets' which fall under different countries laws. So I guess we just aren't getting the house and will lose all the money we spent.

I can't see any scenario where the whole thing isn't dodgy. Who just walks away and doesn't apply for probate on hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of property?

that does not make sense unless the deceased was non resident and non domiciled in the UK at date of death for tax purposes

Smalltownhypocrite

Just an update in case anyone ever in a similar position and looking for outcomes. 

The probate has now officially failed and the houses have been repossessed.

theartfullodger

You can sue whoever you like, small claims.

Different question is will you win.....

Albermarle

Sounds like you have been unlucky with this situation. Probably not a lot you can do but just move on.

HobgoblinBT

Who has repossessed the property?  Are they willing to sell to you?  It is in the interest of the mortgagee in possession to get a quick sale so you may be in luck.  Your Solicitor ought to be able to find out the owner from the Land Registry.