Solicitor failed to complete land registry

L

littlemiss

Guest
Just after some advice. When we purchased the remaining share of our shared ownership propery 3 years ago our solicitor neglected to correctly inform land registry of this. It has only just come to light as we have now sold our property and are using the same solicitor who has now admitted this error. How long should we expect this to take to be recitified as our solicitor has said a few days but this he first told us about 5 weeks ago!! He says he has it 'in hand' but I suspect he may be down playing the situation. I am thinking of ringing the Law Ombudsman. Is this necessary?
 
Well a few days and 5 weeks are two entirely different things. If you don't have title then you cannot complete the sale and could potentially lose your purchaser. This is very serious. Maybe he can fix the title in a few days with the Land Registry, but I understood they are taking years to deal with title as they have a new system. Maybe there is a fact track for cases like yours. I would recommend you sit down with your solicitor and he tell you exactly what is going on in relation to sorting it out.
 
As Bronte suggests a few days and 5 weeks are very different.
In normal circumstances when the last share of a house is purchased, the freehold may be transferred to the tenant, who then may apply for merger. It is not simply a case of notifying Land Registry of the final purchase as legal documents will need to be completed.
Whilst this appears not to have happened at the time (3 years ago) if the actual Transfer of the final share was completed it is presumably the application to then register which did not take place. If that is the case then applying to complete the registration should not take too long as Bronte states.
If the land register for the property has been subject to change during the 3 years then this may pose difficulties and lead to an application for rectification. Such applications can take time to complete as other interests may be involved.
There is no 'fast track' for any application as we aim to complete all applications as quickly as possible. Whilst delays can occur in some cases these are often only a matter of days providing the application is in order.
If the application is not in order then there can be a delay whilst the applicant resolves the matter.
Bronte's advice to clarify the situation with your solicitor is quite correct. The applicaiton to the Land Registry will be the last piece of the ownership jigsaw and you should seek confirmation as to whether the application to register your full ownership has been made or not and if it has then what is the delay.
 
That's very comprehensive advice L R R. And welcome to AAM. Would be nice if you stuck around and helped others.
 
Hi littlemiss i had a situation very similar to yours when i was selling my house , my name was not on the deeds also the deeds were not with the bank, and there was a problem with a marking on the map .
I got in contact with the land registry in waterford and i have to say they were brilliant very professional and very helpful , one guy even ran down to the basement for me while i was on hold and fetched a document for me.
The whole lot was sorted in 3 weeks .
My solicitor even got a refund from my previous solicitor for failing to complete the land registry section .
Ring the land reg yourself be proactive and dont leave it all to the solicitor. Take the name of the person you are dealing with and stick with them for further dealings.
Best of luck
 
Littlemiss - please note that the Land Registry referred to by Bronte and myself deals with land/property in England & Wales.
Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have separate and to varying extents different land registration systems/services.
Reddanmm refers to 'waterford' which would imply their experience was when dealing with the Property Registration Authority Ireland (PRAI)
 
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