# House Deeds Lost - How to reconstitute them?



## Prosper (30 Jan 2017)

How do I go about getting the missing house deeds reconstituted? Also, what could the cost in terms of money and time be?
My father had noted in a journal entry that he had left the deeds with his solicitor when the house became his on completion of the mortgage. Then 6 years later he noted that he had bought out the ground rent and had deposited the Vesting Cert "with said solicitor". The solicitor has said that they do not have the deeds. So if his solicitor doesn't have them then the only other possibility is the bank he banked with all his adult life or somewhere in the house.
His bank also have said that they do not have them and we've gone through the house thoroughly.
I feel that the solicitor has lost the deeds. I know they have moved premises a couple of times since Dad left the deeds with them. It was clear to me that the solicitor didn't want the probate business because they quoted a fee that was almost 3.5% of the gross value of estate (plus outlays and vesting and PRA fees) and didn't come back with a lower quote when invited to do so. I may be reading too much into this but I feel it's possible they didn't push for the probate business because they knew they had lost the deeds.
Anyway, we are where we are and so I'd appreciate advice on reconstituting the deeds.


----------



## Prosper (31 Jan 2017)

I forgot to mention that in 2013 my mother went into a nursing home under the Fair Deal Scheme. However, after my mother died in Mar 2014, my fathers solicitor repaid the nursing home loan in Sept 2015 from my mothers estate and forwarded a copy of a letter from HSE saying the loan was repaid and the solicitor also forwarded to us a letter from the Registry of Deeds with a vacate number. Does this mean that Dads solicitor had to have the Deeds at the time the nursing home loan was applied for?


----------



## Vanilla (31 Jan 2017)

You don't need the title deeds for the HSE to do a vacate, they do it automatically, so no, they didnt need to have the title deeds then, but it would be surprising if they didnt ask where they were. Have you shown them the journal entries?

Anyway, you can get a duplicate vesting cert from the PRAI if you give them an affidavit from the legal per rep- they will tell you what they want on the affidavit. After that, probably a first registration- your new solicitor will guide you through. It's not complicated but there is a cost to it, just get a quote.


----------



## Prosper (31 Jan 2017)

Yes I showed Dads solicitor the journal entry - well I left it with the receptionist asking her to tell the principal that I would like a reply in writing to confirm what up to that point had only been implied i.e. they didn't have the deeds. That was 7 weeks ago and I've had no reply.
When you say "a legal per rep" what/who do you mean?


----------



## DirectDevil (1 Feb 2017)

Side point. Check your house insurance policy. Some policies contain a benefit - usually a fixed amount - that contributes towards the cost of reconstituting lost deeds.


----------



## Prosper (2 Feb 2017)

Thanks I will check the house insurance policy. My father bought the house as a new build in 1965 so there's been no other owner. Does this fact make the reconstituting of the Deeds a less complicated and costly task? Also, can anyone give me an indication of what the likely cost of a solicitor doing this work would be? The house is registered with the Registry of Deeds but not with the Land Registry (therefore no Folio number). I have copies of the *Vesting Cert* (with Registry of Deeds stamp dated 1992 when my father bought out the ground rent) and the *Memorial Cert* (most recent stamp dated 2013 when my Dad took out the loan under the Nursing Home Support Scheme). The Nursing Home loan was repaid following my mothers death. My father died last year and I've submitted the Probate application to the Probate Office. We now want to put the house up for sale.


----------

