ChatterBank1 min ago
not happy with lawyers service
i recently signed a contract to sell my home...the buyer was buying through co.ownership.....we both signed our contracts on 6 april and we both thought a contract wasd legally binding and final...well i did anyway!!! i was due to move out and complete in 3 days time on 22nd april...my lawyer advised me everything was sighned sealed and delivered and the buyer wanted me out on the said date 22nd....i knew i was making a lot of money out of it and was taking my wife away on holiday for a month which was paid for..also i sold all my belongings because when we came back from holiday we would rent a home allready furnished...now on friday afteernoon my lawyer called to say it fell through and co.ownership wasnt perepared to buy...why? because the my home was not registered with land registry office..my lawyer registered and submited papers in dec 2007...co ownership said in their contract that if my lawyer gave a underwritten agrrement that the papers would follow then they would buy but now they have pulled out even in their contract it clearly stated that they would wait on the land registration...im left with my possesions sold..and now dont have the money to holiday as i was relying on money from sale..any advice please/
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Hmm very odd.
When you sign your part of the contract, your solicitor takes it back, the buyer does the same, then the contracts are exchanged and the buyer deposits 5 or 10% with your solicitor. At that point you have a valid contract. If the buyer then pulls out for any reason, you would be entitled to expenses incurred because of his messing-around. This is taken out of the deposit monies.
The reason given (the land is not currently registered) makes absolutely no sense. Both registered and registered land is routinely transacted every day. Since about 2002, when a land sale occurs, the land HAS now to be registered at the Land Registry (in other words, as each piece of land comes up for sale that is NOT currently registered with LR, it has to be registered). But this doesn't change the price of fish.
When exactly did you buy your current land/house? - if it was since 2002, then it should have been registered at LR by you (or your solicitor) when you bought it. Maybe this is what the problem is. Either way this should have been found by your current solicitor as a potential problem, before contracts got close to being exchanged on this sale.
You may have grounds for a potential claim against your solicitor if this is the case.
If you tell us a bit more about the timings of what has happened, there is probably more guidance someone can give you.
When you sign your part of the contract, your solicitor takes it back, the buyer does the same, then the contracts are exchanged and the buyer deposits 5 or 10% with your solicitor. At that point you have a valid contract. If the buyer then pulls out for any reason, you would be entitled to expenses incurred because of his messing-around. This is taken out of the deposit monies.
The reason given (the land is not currently registered) makes absolutely no sense. Both registered and registered land is routinely transacted every day. Since about 2002, when a land sale occurs, the land HAS now to be registered at the Land Registry (in other words, as each piece of land comes up for sale that is NOT currently registered with LR, it has to be registered). But this doesn't change the price of fish.
When exactly did you buy your current land/house? - if it was since 2002, then it should have been registered at LR by you (or your solicitor) when you bought it. Maybe this is what the problem is. Either way this should have been found by your current solicitor as a potential problem, before contracts got close to being exchanged on this sale.
You may have grounds for a potential claim against your solicitor if this is the case.
If you tell us a bit more about the timings of what has happened, there is probably more guidance someone can give you.
ok thanks,
i bought the prop in april 2007 only last yr...i asked the solicitor when he registered the prop and he told me dec 07 was when he submitted the papers....i asked why he went ahead and bought it with out telling me that the land was not allready registered...he told me because the seller i bought it off his solicitor gave an underwritten agreement that the papers would follow but apparently he is still waiting on land reg papers also...apparently the land registry office is only now dealing with the builders papers who constructed the development ...the development is not yet complete either.so it seems i have to wait on land registry to deal with his papers first..i dont understand too much about it but it seems i signed a legal document/contract and now co ownership have gone back on their agreement...co ownership clearly stated in the contra\ct that they would wait on the land papers to follow as long as my solicitor gave an agreement to it....ive been put about 4,000 out of pocket along withn the stress and hassle of it all.
i bought the prop in april 2007 only last yr...i asked the solicitor when he registered the prop and he told me dec 07 was when he submitted the papers....i asked why he went ahead and bought it with out telling me that the land was not allready registered...he told me because the seller i bought it off his solicitor gave an underwritten agreement that the papers would follow but apparently he is still waiting on land reg papers also...apparently the land registry office is only now dealing with the builders papers who constructed the development ...the development is not yet complete either.so it seems i have to wait on land registry to deal with his papers first..i dont understand too much about it but it seems i signed a legal document/contract and now co ownership have gone back on their agreement...co ownership clearly stated in the contra\ct that they would wait on the land papers to follow as long as my solicitor gave an agreement to it....ive been put about 4,000 out of pocket along withn the stress and hassle of it all.
OK, not much more I can add over a public website.
If your land is not currently registered at LR there is a definite problem - it should have been. It doesn't take months to do this - it is perfectly straightforward. When you bought the land, this should have happened. It is tied up with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax - see here: -
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefit s/Taxes/TaxOnPropertyAndRentalIncome/DG_401591 8
Did you pay your solicitor that money for him to do this job?
Whether that NOW entitles your new buyer to now pull out if you did exchange contracts, I'm not sure. Whether you have actually exchanged contracts already before this was realised, again I am not sure.
Either way, these are not things the average man in the street expects to worry about - that is what one pays a solicitor for. In terms of getting something positive out of this for you, it will probably help if you happen to have used the same solicitor for the purchase in April 2007 as for the sale now (its just one organisation to point the finger at). I suggest that you go to CAB for a bit more free advice - they may be able to put you onto a solicitor where you can get 30 minutes of free advice to help you get to the bottom of this. BM
If your land is not currently registered at LR there is a definite problem - it should have been. It doesn't take months to do this - it is perfectly straightforward. When you bought the land, this should have happened. It is tied up with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax - see here: -
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefit s/Taxes/TaxOnPropertyAndRentalIncome/DG_401591 8
Did you pay your solicitor that money for him to do this job?
Whether that NOW entitles your new buyer to now pull out if you did exchange contracts, I'm not sure. Whether you have actually exchanged contracts already before this was realised, again I am not sure.
Either way, these are not things the average man in the street expects to worry about - that is what one pays a solicitor for. In terms of getting something positive out of this for you, it will probably help if you happen to have used the same solicitor for the purchase in April 2007 as for the sale now (its just one organisation to point the finger at). I suggest that you go to CAB for a bit more free advice - they may be able to put you onto a solicitor where you can get 30 minutes of free advice to help you get to the bottom of this. BM
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