What are implications of lost deeds on purchase

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pbyrne

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103
Hi Everybody,

We are looking to purchase a property but have been informed by the vendor's solicitor that the deeds are missing for the property. They have a letter from the bank and some kind of an indemnity policy (I think) which they are proposing to cover the problem.

Our solicitor is on the case but I was wondering if anybody here had any further information for me about what is involved in this scenario -

(a) What is involved in time and money to get a new set of deeds, is this even possible - reading some of the previous threads I was not sure it was.

(b) The indemnity policy that is being offered - will we have to pay anything on that in the future to keep it active or is it the responsiblity of the bank to always honour it?

(c) Would anybody consider this problem to be a deal breaker or is it fixable once the correct documentation / cover is provided by the vendor and the bank?

Apologies if the questions are vague but I have zero knowledge of the area and would like some background for when I discuss fully with our solictor - if only just to understand the wording!
 
"(a) What is involved in time and money to get a new set of deeds, is this even possible - reading some of the previous threads I was not sure it was."

Yes, its possible - very much depends on the type of title. If the vendors solicitor has been in touch with your own solicitor, they'll have discussed the various issues so your solicitor should be able to give you time frame/ cost implications advice.


(b) The indemnity policy that is being offered - will we have to pay anything on that in the future to keep it active or is it the responsiblity of the bank to always honour it?
Again, it depends on what is on offer.

(c) Would anybody consider this problem to be a deal breaker or is it fixable once the correct documentation / cover is provided by the vendor and the bank?

If its fixable ( not all of them are) then it should not be a deal breaker

mf
 
We had similar issue with our recent purchase, deeds were missing, what we got was an indemnity bond for 20years to cover us if a bank held the deeds, the reason for 20yrs is that the previous owner was deceased and unlikely to have a mortgage over the property greater than this period. This was done at the vendors expense. The thing to worry about is whether the deeds have been pledged as security to a bank etc. so thats where the bond kicks in and makes good any financial obligation should it arise.
 
hi cloughy,

that makes sense to me alright - one final question if you don't mind. even though you now have the bond in place would you still follow through on trying to get a 'new' set of deeds generated (assuming it is possible based on the comment from mf1 above). otherwise when you go to sell you would need a similar policy in place at your expense?
 
Some banks / lenders have stricter policies in relation to lending to a property. Their requirement is for 'good and marketable title' which is not the case if deeds cannot be located. Whilst an indemnity will cover you, you will still need to locate the deeds in due course and you should prioritise this.

To re issue deeds - in order to obtain any information you must first establish if the property is registered in the Land Registry. If it is registered a folio number is available. In order to obtain the folio number you must write to the Land Registry with the name and address of the property in question and they ll do a names index search .The fee for a names index search is EUR2.50

A more accurate way of establishing ownership is to do a map search. You
will need to send the Land Registry an Ordnance Survey map of the area in question, outlining the property in red along with a fee of EUR12 made payable by cheque or postal order to the Land Registry. You can obtain a map from Ordnance Survey Ireland @ Phoenix Park, Dublin 8 with @ 8025300/8025349
 
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