Charges on Register

rumandcoke

The Registered Title of my property is in my name but has an old Charge against it (1931). I am now selling on. Is it really necessary for me to get an Indemity to cover this? It wasn't advised when I purchased 5 years ago.

david29dpo

No, the title will be updated during the selling/buying process. Its common for old mortgages which have been paid off to be forgotten about.

loubel

So you purchased 5 years ago but the property is still charged with someone else's mortgage from 1931? This should have been removed when you purchased. Have you raised this with the solicitors who acted for you then?

Yorkie1

Have you still got all the correspondence with your solicitor from when you bought? Do they make any comment about this in their report to you on the title? And what they said needed to be done (and by them??) in relation to it?

rumandcoke

Thank you all for your responses. I was not aware of this Charge until after completion when I received several old Conveyance Agreements along with the Land Register Title. It is obvious from these old Agreements (4)  that the Property has changed Ownership/ Lender several times so I do believe there's no cause for concern. Also, my understanding is that when the Mortgage was settled the first time round the Lender should have had the 1931 Charge removed back in the day as they would of been responsible for Applying it to the Register. Am I obliged though to make my Buyer aware of all this? I ask because, put simply, I wasn't.

Tiglet2

Your buyer's solicitor will see the charge on the title when they start their enquiries.  They will ask your solicitor for it to be removed before proceeding to an exchange.  I'm not sure that they will accept an indemnity policy.  

As others have said, the charge should have been removed before you bought the property by your seller.  It is quite possible that it will need to be referred back to their solicitor.  But as a first step, you should contact the firm who acted for you in the purchase and query why they didn't address this at the time.

user1977

It seems unlikely that it's been overlooked in multiple previous transactions. Are you sure you're not misinterpreting whatever it is you're looking at?

rumandcoke

user1977 said:

It seems unlikely that it's been overlooked in multiple previous transactions. Are you sure you're not misinterpreting whatever it is you're looking at?

I can only explain it by saying that there is Documentation from different previous Lenders saying to the effect that the Mortgage has been settled in several instances. There is nothing in the Mortgage Documentation after the original 1931 Conveyance that makes any reference to the added charge on the Register. It is never referred to anywhere and I have papers also referring to where the property was once owned solely by a man in 1941 who then married and left it to his Widow ( her name is not on the Title). She then gifted the property. It was then sold a further 3 times before my purchase.

loubel

Is the mortgage listed on the Charges Register of the current title register for the property? Or are you looking at the old documentation from historic deeds?