Neither Land Registry nor Solicitor will answer our questions re our land registration - what to do?

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hobob23

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Mmy wife and I are worried about our home purchase which closed 12 months ago and we don't know who to turn to for advice. It turned out during the purchase process that the then-owners of the property had not completed their registration with the land registry (some issue with the solicitors involved) when they had bought the property a few years before.

We were assured by our solicitor that this wasn't a problem:
- that the then-owners could complete their registration (which apparently they assured our solicitor they would);
- that we could proceed with our application for registration in the meantime;
- and that our application would be dealt with once their registration was completed.

Since I first checked in March, there has been no status update on the land regsitry online system as regards the 2 applications. Their application reads: "Mapping Query"; and our application reads: "For further attention". Our solicitor won't answer any of our questions relating to this except to repeat that these things take time (there is a division of folios involved in the prior registration); that our application is fine; and there are no further queries relating to it in the Land Registry office.

I have also contacted the PRAI twice to ask for an update on the two applications but they simply tell us that: we must direct questions relating to our application to our solicitor as she lodged our application; and that they cannot give us any information regarding the previous owners application because it is not ours.

So I'm concerned about all of this for a number of reasons (there were a number of surprises during the purchase) and I can't get any answers - our solicitor won't get into a conversation and PRAI direct us to our solicitor. The questions I have asked them both: Is there progress being made on the applications? What is the mapping issue that is being queried? Is the mapping issue being addressed by anyone? Are the previous owners making the effort to make good on their assurance that they would complete their registration so that ours can proceed?

The more worrying questions we have privately are: did our solicitor give us good advice? Is there any questionmark over our ownership of the property?

I also have just noticed that our purchase doesn't appear in the property price register. From quick research, I understand that we would expect it to appear there within a couple of months after the stamp duty had been paid. Considering we paid everything to the solicitor last October 2022, should it not appear in PPR? Does this mean stamp duty hasn't been paid?

Thanks for reading .. any advice or insight appreciated. I'd rather not shell out bringing this to another solicitor if at all possible - although it might be the only way to get peace of mind. Or maybe do I direct myself to the Law Society to ask if we are being well-advised?

Thanks
 
It sounds like (first sentence) your solicitor advised you to proceed with the sale despite problems with title from the vendors.

If you haven't done so already, write down all the problems/ issues with the transaction as a letter to your solicitor and send it by registered post to her. Stick to the chronology and state whether the interaction was oral (phone or meeting )or written (enclose copies of correspondence). Give the solicitor a time limit for a detailed response to your letter, stressing the urgency of the matter. State that you want a written response to each of the points you raise within 10 or 12 working days or by a specified date e.g. 31/10/2023. If she does not respond within the time frame, tell her you will be left with no option but to seek assistance from higher authority.
 
Not my area, but from first principles I wonder if your vendors actually have the legal right to sell to you.
Put more simply, if they do not have or cannot prove proper title they cannot sell unless and until that is rectified.

Conceptually, the principle objective of the exercise is to secure a valid conveyance whereby your title is sound against all comers.
This is why your solicitor should be, and probably is, investigating title.
If your solicitor cannot be satisfied that the vendors are capable of conveying a sound and defensible title to you she should advise you not to proceed with the intended purchase.

You may have to consider abandoning the intended purchase, especially if the title investigations are taking too long.
Consider that if your time is being wasted you may be losing opportunities to buy elsewhere.

If the matter appears eventually to be resolved but there are lingering suspicions it might be worth taking advice on whether or not you might need defective title indemnity insurance to cover you against any subsequent issues. Against this, if there are still any real concerns about title, I would expect you to be warned about this risk by your solicitor and advised to walk away.

The other reason for great care to secure a valid title is to enable you, in turn, to sell in the future.

Good luck with it
 
From my reading of your post you are now living in the property you purchased? Your solicitor would not have allowed you to complete the sale and pay the vendor without being assured that you had the legal right to do so. This is their job to do due diligence.

You are worried about the length of time the land registry step is taking. So I think that is the only valid question you should ask your solicitor. How long do we need to wait for this to complete before starting to worry? Maybe he will say in his experience the wait can be several years or at the most x months. All you are doing now is delaying the process by wasting time asking questions to which there is no answer. The land registry people are telling you to go away and stop annoying them, your solicitor is probably thinking - I was paid for this Conveyancing already, why do I keep having to answer the same question with the same answer over and over again?

Most of us only purchase a house once or twice in our lifetime, we are not experts in conveyancing so we pay a professional to do it. They will advise you on the correct way to proceed. When we purchased our house our solicitor was not happy to proceed (in disagreement with the sellers solicitor) and said she needed to get advice from senior council. Once that was obtained both sides agreed our solicitor was correct, the issue was rectified and we then progressed with the sale. My understanding of the issue was very vague, not being a legal expert, but I trusted the professional expertise of my solicitor and it all worked out.

So trust the process and let it run its course.
 
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