Turns out a property I bought over 2 years ago has a charge against it?

Turns out a property I bought over 2 years ago has a charge against it?

14:01 PM, 26th January 2016, About 8 years ago 16

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I bought a house over 2 years ago to rent out, all went well until about 3 months ago when the local council contacted me saying they had a charge on the property and unless I paid the outstanding amount of £1500 they would take legal proceeding’s against me.charge

I know they cannot make me pay the outstanding amount, but can get interest added to the debt and possibly court costs. As this was my first investment property a local land search was not carried out.

I was advised by my solicitor that it was for local mine workings etc. At the time I wasn’t even aware you could have a charge against a property. This charge is for work carried out to the property by the council when the previous owner (also a landlord) failed to fix the boiler. The house was later repossessed and I bought it off the mortgage company.

The solicitor who acted for me doesn’t even bother to reply to my requests to look into this matter. Getting to the point, the mortgage company was aware of this charge (they had been in communication with the local council) yet failed to disclose the fact to me, is this legal and surely after repossessing the property where they not libel for the debt as owner of the property.

Also how can I find out if the council acted properly when obtaining the charge against the property ? any help or advice would be appreciated.

John


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Comments

19:41 PM, 26th January 2016, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Chris Best" at "26/01/2016 - 15:12":

Thanks for the comments although a few conflicting thoughts, to clear a few things up, as my first investment property I was maybe a bit naïve in not paying for a local land search and my solicitor certainly didn't strongly suggest that I should, also it was a cash purchase thru an estate agent, not an auction buy and no mortgage involved. So far the council has phoned me several times and told me they had a charge on the property but have not sent me any paperwork to show it, instead they have sent me an invoice (4 times) for the work carried out dated early 2011 and have simply put my name and address on it instead of the original owner, this is accompanied with letter threatening legal action. I'm of the same opinion as Patricia that the building society I bought the property off are responsible for the charge, they were aware of it but failed to either clear the debt or disclose the fact.

Ashley Wong

19:55 PM, 26th January 2016, About 8 years ago

Search of the local land charges register and enquiries of the local authority are regarded as usual in every transaction. Failure to perform this is likely to amount to negligence. I presume your property is registered. If so, with the charges you can see them in section C: Charges Register on the Official Copy of Register Title. Your solicitor should had provided you a copy else you will be able to obtain a copy on your own from the Land Registry. Since you had not been able to contact the solicitor who acted for you (I presume you mean the individual and not the firm) for clarification I suggest you look up the legal practise's website and establish the complaints procedures. Follow the complaints procedures. In the meantime you might also want to make a complaint to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). There are ten mandatory SRA principles which apply to the legal firms and individuals who are involved in the provision of legal services. From what you described, the solicitor had not been in compliance with the SRA principle 4 (act in the best interest of each client), 5 (provide a proper standard of services to your clients) and 6 (behave in a way that maintains the trust the public places in you and in the provision of legal services).
http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page

Ashley Wong

21:27 PM, 26th January 2016, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "John Dailey" at "26/01/2016 - 19:41":

Your solicitor has a duty to explain and bring to your attention what it means for not carrying out the search of the local land charges register and enquiries of the local authority. If he / she had failed to do so, you should still initiate the firm's complaints procedures and complaint to the SRA. The seller i.e. the mortgage company from whom you made the purchase is under no obligation to disclose the outstanding debts to you. On the contrary your solicitor is.

Ashley Wong

21:47 PM, 26th January 2016, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Rudolph Banton" at "26/01/2016 - 18:30":

I will initiate the legal firm's complaints procedures and request they make good all incurred losses + interests. At the same time I will also make a complaint to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. It sounds to me there had been a breach of the SRA principle 4 (act in the best interests of you the client) principle 5 (provide a proper standard of service to you) and principle 6 (behave in a way that maintains the trust the public places in them and in the provision of legal services).
http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page

Michael Coulson

22:43 PM, 26th January 2016, About 8 years ago

I have found that if I think the solicitor that I have used has not done his job properly, I tell them I will report them to the law society. It's surprising what a difference those few words can make.

Michael Coulson

22:50 PM, 26th January 2016, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Rudolph Banton" at "26/01/2016 - 18:30":

I have always found that if I think a solicitor has not or is not doing their job properly, tell them you will repot them to the law society, it has always worked & I have only had to report one firm.

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