Seller lied on house sales forms. We need to prove she has assets so we can take her to court.

Land_Registry

Two likely reasons why she may not be registered as a leaseholder owner. The first is because she didn't buy it but has a short let/rental agreement. The second is that it has as yet not been registered - we have a backlog of work re new builds/developments and some purchases may as yet not be registered. 
If you buy in a conventional way so a new lease from developer to you or a Transfer in the same way then that would be registered. You can't do that and then keep your name off the land register for example

Grizebeck

silvercar said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Hi Pink Cristal.

Is this from a solicitor you are paying for yourself, or via Legal Protection cover?

Anyhoo, this might be a start; https://www.advicenow.org.uk/guides/find-out-if-defendant-worth-suing

There's a Land Registry forum user on here, who may be able to advise why this person's name isn't appearing on their records - that seems 'wrong'!

LAND REGISTRY?!

@Land_Registry Can people avoid a property being registered in their name for this reason?

Seems rather unsafe to  not register your ownership to avoid anyone taking action against you.

It is quite common for people to avoid having legal title to a property but in fact owning all or a % of the beneficial interest
Proving someone has a beneficial interest is another matter indeed

EssexHebridean

Echoing what the LR have said - of she has bought this property inside the past couple of years there is every chance that the registration application is sitting in a queue for processing. New leases are taking anything up to 2 years to even be looked at currently, and if there are then requisitions, that will delay things further. The sale of our flat that went through just over a year ago is not yet registered to the new owner - and that is a pretty straightforward "dealing" transaction! 

TheJP

My first question is, did you have any surveys carried out prior to buying the property?

MEM62

Grizebeck said:

Your solicitor isn't very bright 

Or the OP has gone to a no-win-no-fee firm instead of engaging proper legal representation.  NWNF will want to ensure that they get their money before investing any time or effort on the OP's behalf.  

With respect to the leak the onus will be on you to prove that the seller was aware of the issue.  Proof being above and beyond your assumption that she knew or 'its obvious she would have known'.  Assuming that you were prudent and had a survey done before purchasing, what did this say on the matter. 

And do you still have an issue with the neighbors?        

Herzlos

There shouldn't be any link between the vendors ability to pay and the ability to take her to court. It may impact on her ability to pay if you win but the court should be taking care of that side of it.

I'd look for another solicitor, since I assume you're wanting her to pay for the repair work and will be over the small claims limit?

Exodi

PinkCristal said:

Three months after moving into our house we noticed damp appearing in our garden room and then following torrential rain we had a flood. Our insurers paid for the damage to be fixed, but a few weeks later damp started to reappear and has got steadily worse. The room is now unusable. We've been told tanking is needed, the cost of which is considerable. We have proof that the seller lied on the paperwork when we bought the house, saying there had never been any flooding in or around the property.

What is the proof you have that the seller lied about there ever being a flood in or around the property?

For the record I totally sympathise with you, I think it is super scummy when sellers paint over damp just before viewings, or cover damage with furnishings, or 'forget' to the mention the boiler is on the way out and the toilet leaks when flushed.

But in part, that is what viewings and surveys are for. I think it's also noteworthy that your complaint is not about the main property but an outbuilding. Would it still be misrepresentation if it was a doghouse they had in the garden that had signs of damp? Is there a distinction?

Also if your implication is correct, and the garden room had a serious damp issue like you describe before you moved in, then why did your survey not pick this up?

Also I'm not too familiar on what a garden room is, but am I correct in thinking it's effectively a a summer house/wood cabin/large fancy shed sort of thing constructed of wood? Do you know how the water is getting in?

Why did you leave it 3 years?

theartfullodger

The easy bit is getting court judgement for debt owed.  

The much harder bit, needs cunning, patience, hard work etc etc is actually collecting the ££££__

PinkCristal

user1977 said:

Why can't your own solicitor give you further advice? Surely this is their daily bread and butter? 

Our solicitor is through our house insurance as we paid a legal expenses premium. She said she's happy to take on our case if we can prove the vendor has assets but under the agreement with our insurer she cannot progress if there is no likelihood of us receiving compensation from the vendor. Her team have tried to track the vendor's assets without success.  Our solicitor said we could try the small claims court but with the £10,000 limit we don't think that is the best option. She also said if the seller's assets become known and we've already gone to the small claims court, we wouldn't then be able to proceed with any further action.

Schwarzwald

PinkCristal said:

user1977 said:

Why can't your own solicitor give you further advice? Surely this is their daily bread and butter? 

... we could try the small claims court but with the £10,000 limit we don't think that is the best option ...

so for how much do you seek to claim compensation?
and how do you came up with this number / for what exactly?