Property Purchased in 2022, only found out yesterday there is a charge against the house !

justwondering25

Help and advice please : We Bought a property back in 2022, yesterday in 2026 ! We found out there was a charge against the property from a previous owners debt, via the county courts.

 

So I am now pretty worried….

Long story short, purchased a freehold property back in England 2022, the usual route, solicitor , estate agent.

Paid in full for the legal services, property transferred 2022.

But we kept on getting debt recovery letters, so I just sent back as return to sender / no longer at this address.

Anyway, one letter just kept on coming back time after time, so I finally decided enough, time to contact the people sending the letter….I read through the letter address to the previous owner, stating an amount of around £4200, but one part jumped out at me, as it said they had via the county courts obtained a charge against the property…..as you can imagine I have not seen any county court paperwork sent to the property, otherwise, I would have been straight on it.

Called up the debt collection agency / using a solicitor type of branding.

After discussions it led me to download the title register for our property, to my shock, there was indeed a charge against the property dating from 2012 ! the type been “Equitable charge created by an interim charging order”

So I called the solicitors that I used back in 2022, they said it should not be there and that the vendors solicitor had not followed their undertaking / duties to clear the charge from the proceeds.

So I have been CC into the email chain sent to the vendors solicitor, from my house purchasing solicitor , asking them to  discharge of the equitable charge which has not yet been dealt with.

So I spent a long time researching last night, but I have not really come to any conclusion as to where we stand legally.

1)     Should my original solicitor have picked up on the remaining charge against the property from 2012 before completing the property purchase? Is this malpractice?

2)     I assume with the charge against my property from 2012, I can currently not easily sell or remortgage, unless the previous owners debt is cleared.

3)     If the charge is not removed by the vendors solicitor as part of their undertakings, who would I need to take to small claims court for the amount of £4200 to pay the charge, would it be my solicitor that acted on my behalf, or the vendors solicitor of whom I have no previous contract with (is this even a possible route?)

4)     I was never informed at any stage during the purchasing process of the 2012 charge against the property, I was not asked to consider the 2012 charge against the property.

5)     What is a reasonable amount of time to allow for the vendors solicitors to deal with the matter? 28 days or longer?

6)     I spoke with the paralegal from my solicitors who I originally spoke with back in 2022, they said on the phone, that I would not face any legal fees or any financial cost to remedy the situation ( I have since emailed and asked for this to confirmed in writing/email) she said that the situation is serious and the vendors solicitor must make the matter good.

7)     I read up about the legals ombudsman route, man do they get the worst reviews ever on Trustpilot, it is around a score of 1.2 out of 5 across the board! That route does not fill me with any confidence.

8)     I feel my solicitor has left me bad position, due to the financial implications and value of the property and with a lot of things to worry about.

 

Any thoughts or help would be very much appreciated, my mind is fried from staying up very late googling things!

MattMattMattUK

justwondering25 said:

Help and advice please : We Bought a property back in 2022, yesterday in 2026 ! We found out there was a charge against the property from a previous owners debt, via the county courts.

 

So I am now pretty worried….

Long story short, purchased a freehold property back in England 2022, the usual route, solicitor , estate agent.

Paid in full for the legal services, property transferred 2022.

But we kept on getting debt recovery letters, so I just sent back as return to sender / no longer at this address.

Anyway, one letter just kept on coming back time after time, so I finally decided enough, time to contact the people sending the letter….I read through the letter address to the previous owner, stating an amount of around £4200, but one part jumped out at me, as it said they had via the county courts obtained a charge against the property…..as you can imagine I have not seen any county court paperwork sent to the property, otherwise, I would have been straight on it.

Called up the debt collection agency / using a solicitor type of branding.

After discussions it led me to download the title register for our property, to my shock, there was indeed a charge against the property dating from 2012 ! the type been “Equitable charge created by an interim charging order”

So I called the solicitors that I used back in 2022, they said it should not be there and that the vendors solicitor had not followed their undertaking / duties to clear the charge from the proceeds.

So I have been CC into the email chain sent to the vendors solicitor, from my house purchasing solicitor , asking them to  discharge of the equitable charge which has not yet been dealt with.

So I spent a long time researching last night, but I have not really come to any conclusion as to where we stand legally.

1)     Should my original solicitor have picked up on the remaining charge against the property from 2012 before completing the property purchase? Is this malpractice?

It depends on what you mean by "picked up on", it sounds like they were aware and had been confirmed that it would be cleared as part of the sale, that is not an unusual process. Just checking that this is a proper charge registered with the Land Registry? Normally a transfer cannot be completed with the charge unsatisifed.

justwondering25 said:
2)     I assume with the charge against my property from 2012, I can currently not easily sell or remortgage, unless the previous owners debt is cleared.

Remortgaging with your existing lender should be fine, with another lender it might cause a problem. Selling would be an issue.

justwondering25 said:
3)     If the charge is not removed by the vendors solicitor as part of their undertakings, who would I need to take to small claims court for the amount of £4200 to pay the charge, would it be my solicitor that acted on my behalf, or the vendors solicitor of whom I have no previous contract with (is this even a possible route?)

You do not pay the amount. First you wait for your solicitor to give a full update, it is on them to resolve this.

justwondering25 said:
4)     I was never informed at any stage during the purchasing process of the 2012 charge against the property, I was not asked to consider the 2012 charge against the property.

You would not normally need to be informed, nor would you be asked to consider it.

justwondering25 said:
5)     What is a reasonable amount of time to allow for the vendors solicitors to deal with the matter? 28 days or longer?

I would possibly it to take up to 28 days to get a confirmation of what is happening, potentially longer for the charge to be removed.

justwondering25 said:
6)     I spoke with the paralegal from my solicitors who I originally spoke with back in 2022, they said on the phone, that I would not face any legal fees or any financial cost to remedy the situation ( I have since emailed and asked for this to confirmed in writing/email) she said that the situation is serious and the vendors solicitor must make the matter good.

They are correct, the is is on the solicitor to put this right, potentially from their own pocket if needed as they should not have distributed funds from the sale without clearing the charge. 

justwondering25 said:
7)     I read up about the legals ombudsman route, man do they get the worst reviews ever on Trustpilot, it is around a score of 1.2 out of 5 across the board! That route does not fill me with any confidence.

They get those results because most people who leave reviews on TrustPilot are either paid to leave them or crazy people. You also do not need to be doing anything with the Legal Ombudsman and you have the SRA who will take action of the other solicitor does not sort this.

justwondering25 said:
8)     I feel my solicitor has left me bad position, due to the financial implications and value of the property and with a lot of things to worry about.

It has zero impact on the value of you property, it has minimal if any financial implications unless you are trying to sell at the moment. It should have been cleared by the seller's solicitor, not yours, but the land registry should not have allowed the transfer without notification from the solicitor that the debt had been cleared. 

justwondering25 said:
Any thoughts or help would be very much appreciated, my mind is fried from staying up very late googling things!

Let your solicitors deal with it as the first action, they are obliged to deal with it, as is the seller's solicitor, the seller's solicitor would have to face the SRA and lose their license if they do not resolve this. If they fail to the the SRA would step in and resolve it. 

Take a deep breath, have a cup of tea, accept it will take a month or two to get resolved, but that it almost certainly does not matter (unless you are actively trying to sell).

justwondering25

MattMattMattUK said:

justwondering25 said:

Help and advice please : We Bought a property back in 2022, yesterday in 2026 ! We found out there was a charge against the property from a previous owners debt, via the county courts.

 

So I am now pretty worried….

Long story short, purchased a freehold property back in England 2022, the usual route, solicitor , estate agent.

Paid in full for the legal services, property transferred 2022.

But we kept on getting debt recovery letters, so I just sent back as return to sender / no longer at this address.

Anyway, one letter just kept on coming back time after time, so I finally decided enough, time to contact the people sending the letter….I read through the letter address to the previous owner, stating an amount of around £4200, but one part jumped out at me, as it said they had via the county courts obtained a charge against the property…..as you can imagine I have not seen any county court paperwork sent to the property, otherwise, I would have been straight on it.

Called up the debt collection agency / using a solicitor type of branding.

After discussions it led me to download the title register for our property, to my shock, there was indeed a charge against the property dating from 2012 ! the type been “Equitable charge created by an interim charging order”

So I called the solicitors that I used back in 2022, they said it should not be there and that the vendors solicitor had not followed their undertaking / duties to clear the charge from the proceeds.

So I have been CC into the email chain sent to the vendors solicitor, from my house purchasing solicitor , asking them to  discharge of the equitable charge which has not yet been dealt with.

So I spent a long time researching last night, but I have not really come to any conclusion as to where we stand legally.

1)     Should my original solicitor have picked up on the remaining charge against the property from 2012 before completing the property purchase? Is this malpractice?

It depends on what you mean by "picked up on", it sounds like they were aware and had been confirmed that it would be cleared as part of the sale, that is not an unusual process. Just checking that this is a proper charge registered with the Land Registry? Normally a transfer cannot be completed with the charge unsatisifed.

justwondering25 said:
2)     I assume with the charge against my property from 2012, I can currently not easily sell or remortgage, unless the previous owners debt is cleared.

Remortgaging with your existing lender should be fine, with another lender it might cause a problem. Selling would be an issue.

justwondering25 said:
3)     If the charge is not removed by the vendors solicitor as part of their undertakings, who would I need to take to small claims court for the amount of £4200 to pay the charge, would it be my solicitor that acted on my behalf, or the vendors solicitor of whom I have no previous contract with (is this even a possible route?)

You do not pay the amount. First you wait for your solicitor to give a full update, it is on them to resolve this.

justwondering25 said:
4)     I was never informed at any stage during the purchasing process of the 2012 charge against the property, I was not asked to consider the 2012 charge against the property.

You would not normally need to be informed, nor would you be asked to consider it.

justwondering25 said:
5)     What is a reasonable amount of time to allow for the vendors solicitors to deal with the matter? 28 days or longer?

I would possibly it to take up to 28 days to get a confirmation of what is happening, potentially longer for the charge to be removed.

justwondering25 said:
6)     I spoke with the paralegal from my solicitors who I originally spoke with back in 2022, they said on the phone, that I would not face any legal fees or any financial cost to remedy the situation ( I have since emailed and asked for this to confirmed in writing/email) she said that the situation is serious and the vendors solicitor must make the matter good.

They are correct, the is is on the solicitor to put this right, potentially from their own pocket if needed as they should not have distributed funds from the sale without clearing the charge. 

justwondering25 said:
7)     I read up about the legals ombudsman route, man do they get the worst reviews ever on Trustpilot, it is around a score of 1.2 out of 5 across the board! That route does not fill me with any confidence.

They get those results because most people who leave reviews on TrustPilot are either paid to leave them or crazy people. You also do not need to be doing anything with the Legal Ombudsman and you have the SRA who will take action of the other solicitor does not sort this.

justwondering25 said:
8)     I feel my solicitor has left me bad position, due to the financial implications and value of the property and with a lot of things to worry about.

It has zero impact on the value of you property, it has minimal if any financial implications unless you are trying to sell at the moment. It should have been cleared by the seller's solicitor, not yours, but the land registry should not have allowed the transfer without notification from the solicitor that the debt had been cleared. 

justwondering25 said:
Any thoughts or help would be very much appreciated, my mind is fried from staying up very late googling things!

Let your solicitors deal with it as the first action, they are obliged to deal with it, as is the seller's solicitor, the seller's solicitor would have to face the SRA and lose their license if they do not resolve this. If they fail to the the SRA would step in and resolve it. 

Take a deep breath, have a cup of tea, accept it will take a month or two to get resolved, but that it almost certainly does not matter (unless you are actively trying to sell).

Hi Matt, thank you for your extremely helpful reply, yes the charge is against the property and detailed on the Title register, which I downloaded yesterday from the official land registry website, I paid £7 for the document.

The information is detailed under "charges register"

Entry number 2 Entry day 2012 -****-**

Equitable charge created by an interim charging

order of the ********* County Court dated******** (Court

Reference **********).

¬NOTE: Copy filed.

(Details removed for data protection etc)


The property did transfer successfully even with the charge on there, I did learn yesterday also, that the solicitors' indemnity to deal with such matters is 6 years? thankfully, due to the debt chasing letter, I looked into things, as I may not of needed to check such details for many more years.

Since my original post, my purchasing solicitor has replied and said there will be no legal charges to have the Charge against the house removed.

But it is still all very concerning.

ciderboy2009

Is that all there is about it on the register? 

If it's only the interim charging order then it looks like the final charging order was never made by the court so absolutely nothing to worry about.

justwondering25

ciderboy2009 said:

Is that all there is about it on the register? 

If it's only the interim charging order then it looks like the final charging order was never made by the court so absolutely nothing to worry about.

Thank you for your reply, yes pretty much, that is what is mentioned within the register. 

But I guess it would be best that it is removed?  I assume it would give the creditor the right to be paid upon the sale of the propety? 

Slinky

Are you sure the debt on the charging order, and the one you are receiving paperwork for through the post are one and the same?

justwondering25

Slinky said:

Are you sure the debt on the charging order, and the one you are receiving paperwork for through the post are one and the same?

They are both for the same company/bank, I cannot be certain they are for the same debt, but the same company /bank would suggest they maybe.

The debt letter details the company and the register details the same company.