My Solicitor has lost my Deeds

Hello ,

I bought my house 7 years ago . Two months ago we were thinking of selling our house and move to be closer to parents.

I rang the bank and through the course of conversation with the mortgage dept i was advised that they have never received the deeds from my solicitor. They have apparently exhausted every avenue trying to get them and have referred the file to the law society.

After ringing the law society this solicitor has been struck off for conveyancy issues .

Two weeks ago the Law society have stated that he has my deeds but he wont answer calls or correspondence.

I need advice as to what to do.This has me and my wife completely depressed at a time when we needed a change.

Will I be forced to pay for a solicitor to sort this out ?

Thanks ,

"I need advice as to what to do."

Talk to a solicitor and see what steps you can take to force the issue.

Or sit and wait and see what happens.

"Will I be forced to pay for a solicitor to sort this out ?"

It's a problem - it needs sorting. So, do something or do nothing and see what happens.

mf

Thanks for the reply ,

Spoke to a solicitor who advised to do nothing and see what the law society come up with.

Yesterday evening the law society rang and said they were in contact with him and they are collecting a box off him which they believe my deeds are in.

I was asked if I know is my property registered in my name which I could only presume it is but they are doubtful as my deeds would be with the land registry application which is possibly in this box with the deeds.

Should I be worried about this regarding insurance purposes , for instance if it goes up in flames tonight will the insurance not pay out as its not registered in my name ?

Did you ask the Law society if they would pay for another solicitor to process the transfer, because that will still need to be done? There is a solicitors indemnity fund and presumable it is from that the fees will have to be paid.

Getting by said:

Should I be worried about this regarding insurance purposes , for instance if it goes up in flames tonight will the insurance not pay out as its not registered in my name ?

Click to expand...

I don't think you should be worried, but I'm just some random bloke on the internet. If you are talking to a solicitor anyway about this issue, they can reassure you properly. I think you could reasonably demonstrate "insurable interest" even without the deeds being bang up to date. Basically, the insurer should not indemnify you for someone else's house, as this would not be in the good interests of the owner of that property. This is clearly your property, with a registration niggle to be worked out. At worst, it might delay payment while you got it sorted, and probably then only if you told the insurer about it.

Thanks for the replies , just need some reassuring thanks.

Rang insurance company and they will honour a claim as i have proof of purchase of a new property and am the first and only owner.

Awaiting on law society to confirm whether they can process this issue with a solicitor from the solicitors indemnity fund .

Thanks again.....will update as soon as .

Getting by said:

Two weeks ago the Law society have stated that he has my deeds but he wont answer calls or correspondence.

Will I be forced to pay for a solicitor to sort this out ?

Click to expand...

It looks like the Law Society are on the case - give them a chance to resolve matters.


ONQ.

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matter at hand.

Seems you're not the only one with deeds missing.
There is another thread here in which missing deeds are mentioned.

It might be very important you move to fine out what was done with these deeds.
Prior offences by solicitors before Irish courts involve raising two mortgages on properties.


ONQ.

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matter at hand.

Just to add that it is most disappointing that the Law society did not send the OP a letter outlining his situation and outlining what rights he has and what he should do. Even an email to help a worried consumer.

(nods)

Given the numbers of solicitors involved in regulatory actions by the ILS and the Courts it might be useful for the ILS to consider the publication of a guide or guides for laypeople outlining the avenues of recourse currently available to them through the ILS if they solicitor has misbehaved. This should be in the form of a public service and could be published online at little or no cost where it would give immense comfort to those whose solicitors may have failed to act appropriately.

It might also head off at the pass those who have perhaps misunderstood the situation they are in, or have no knowledge of alternative routes to dispute resolution - negotiation, conciliation, mediation, arbitration - that are available at lower costs than a High Court action. I may stand corrected if this is already in place.

ONQ.

Information for legal consumers is there on the Society website.

[broken link removed]

As a side The Law Society is known as the Law Society of Ireland since 1994. "Incorporated" was dropped from its title then.