Deed of certificate - Can’t find the previous owner

silvercar

tom741 said:

this is the law:

A 

Leaseholder Deed of Certificate is a document a leaseholder completes to prove their eligibility for protection under the Building Safety Act 2022, which shields them from potentially high costs for building safety defects in their building. To get this protection, a leaseholder must submit the completed Deed of Certificate to the building owner, along with supporting documents showing they are a "qualifying leaseholder". The Deed confirms the lease meets the Act's requirements for qualifying leases. 

Which is why I would expect the managing agents to collect the information, and to have done so by now.

Chief_of_Staffy

tom741 said:

i think you are missing the point

the law came into power a day after we bought our flat back in 2022. at the time we bought it no one knew about this law. and there is nothing we can do about it. it is what it is

Laws don't just come into being without people knowing about them. The Building Safety Act was proposed in 2017. It was presented to Parliament in July 2021. That was nine months before it received Royal assent. Any half competent conveyancer would have known about this law for at last a year before its implementation, and in the weeks and months before its enactment known it was about to become law, and advised their clients accordingly and collected the appropriate data on their behalf. Your conveyancer, if they did not do this, failed in their duty. If I were in your position, I'd instruct them to sort it out immediately or face legal action.

GDB2222

Building Safety Act 2022 timetable through parliament

🏛️ House of Commons Stages

• 1st Reading: 5 July 2021

• 2nd Reading: 21 July 2021

• Money Resolution & Ways and Means Resolution: 21 July 2021

• Committee Stage: From 9 September 2021

• Report Stage & Programme Motion: 19 January 2022

• 3rd Reading: 4 April 2022

🏛️ House of Lords Stages

• 1st Reading: 20 January 2022

• 2nd Reading: 2 February 2022

• Committee Stage: From 21 February 2022

• Report Stage: 29 March 2022

• 3rd Reading: 19 April 2022

🔁 Consideration of Amendments

• Lords Consideration of Commons Amendments: 20 April 2022

• Commons Consideration of Lords Amendments: 26 April 2022

👑 Royal Assent

• 28 April 2022 — The Bill became law as the Building Safety Act 2022

tom741

bottom line what do i do if i want to progress, the previous owner is not answering, no one has this info. what do i do? im stuck 

EssexHebridean

The BSA2022 is a bit of an oddity in that it was REALLY rushed through, and there was relatively little information about the form it was likely to take given to Solicitors firms ahead of it actually becoming law. Indeed, there was relatively little information available to firms immediately it HAD become law! Suggesting that someone should go after their solicitor relating to a law that wasn't in place when they completed on purchasing a property is - with all due respect - utter nonsense. 

Tiglet2

Don't know if you've read this, but might be of some help?

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/leaseholder-protections-deed-of-certificate-frequently-asked-questions

GDB2222

EssexHebridean said:

The BSA2022 is a bit of an oddity in that it was REALLY rushed through, and there was relatively little information about the form it was likely to take given to Solicitors firms ahead of it actually becoming law. Indeed, there was relatively little information available to firms immediately it HAD become law! Suggesting that someone should go after their solicitor relating to a law that wasn't in place when they completed on purchasing a property is - with all due respect - utter nonsense. 

I’ve shown the timetable of the act passing through Parliament. The bill had been published in its original form 9 or 10 months before the op completed on his purchase. The conveyancer was in the business and really needed to stay up to date.

Of course the op should try everything he can to work round the problem. But if he is left with an unsaleable flat, he may have to sue his conveyancer.

MWT

GDB2222 said:

Of course the op should try everything he can to work round the problem. But if he is left with an unsaleable flat, he may have to sue his conveyancer.

Good luck with that..

If the completion was the day before the law took effect then it has no bearing on the transaction and no duty of care would apply, and certainly no obligation to collect information not required for that transaction in anticipation of some future potential transaction....

GDB2222

MWT said:

GDB2222 said:

Of course the op should try everything he can to work round the problem. But if he is left with an unsaleable flat, he may have to sue his conveyancer.

Good luck with that..

If the completion was the day before the law took effect then it has no bearing on the transaction and no duty of care would apply, and certainly no obligation to collect information not required for that transaction in anticipation of some future potential transaction....

The OP will need to get professional advice about the merits of the case before instituting proceedings, and that will of course take into consideration what the duties of the conveyancer are in regards to legislation which is going through parliament at the time of the transaction. I am sure that we can all agree that in a matter of this magnitude he should not rely on unqualified advice from people on a forum. 

cr1mson

Can you offer to make it worth their while for the previous seller to reply? ie offer them something for the time involved.

Can the solicitor confirm still alive etc? 

Do you have details so can contact direct and make a personal plea explaining the circumstances?

Are you sure solicitor has up to date details can you employ a tracing agent to find them?

Just some throughts!