Lost Deeds

[peck]

My niece and nephew have not been able to find the deeds to heir mothers house. Their Father died some years ago and their mother died early this year, they need the deeds so that the house can be sold.

They have tried to contact the broker who sold their mother and father the mortgage but they have gone out of business some years ago,

If the broker was holding the deeds what would have happened to the deeds when the business folded? Would they have been handed over to the mortgage lender or would they just have been scrapped.?

Any help would be appreciated.

[McSpredder]

Try Land Registry for a start.

https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-property-and-land/copies-of-deeds

[Davyo]

My niece and nephew have not been able to find the deeds to heir mothers house. Their Father died some years ago and their mother died early this year, they need the deeds so that the house can be sold.

They have tried to contact the broker who sold their mother and father the mortgage but they have gone out of business some years ago,

If the broker was holding the deeds what would have happened to the deeds when the business folded? Would they have been handed over to the mortgage lender or would they just have been scrapped.?

Any help would be appreciated.

When I cleared my morg in 92,the then Northern Rock (lender) said they would keep them for a fee or release them.I chose to collect them as my Solicitors Hall &Co of Durham woild keep them safe.However when they got into trouble (long story where one of the soilcitors (mine) was murdered).They were stopped from practicing,but they had to hand back all important documents to their clients.My deeds are now with my bank,how you go about obtaining new deeds I have no idea or of the costs involved. Edited July 24, 2017 by Davyo

[Mungler]

Talk to a solicitor.

 

If the property is already registered at the LR then chances are you don't need any Deeds.

 

Indeed, with electronic registration deeds are now obsolete - but no one believes it!

[JDog]

Talk to a solicitor.

If the property is already registered at the LR then chances are you don't need any Deeds.

Indeed, with electronic registration deeds are now obsolete - but no one believes it!

I agree Mungler, few people believe that Deeds are now mostly obsolete and that titles are held electronically at the LR.

 

This house has some very fascinating documentation going with it. The Deeds and documents make fine reading but are in effect useless.

[peck]

The house is not on the "house registry" for some reason we do not know.

[Bobba]

I agree Mungler, few people believe that Deeds are now mostly obsolete and that titles are held electronically at the LR.

This house has some very fascinating documentation going with it. The Deeds and documents make fine reading but are in effect useless.

I would agree that in terms of ownership the LR electronic registration makes the Deeds obsolete but the fascinating reading you describe can at times be vital in cases of dispute.

 

In our case we also own an inherited Ground floor flat in a property comprising three flats. It has a management Co and for my sins I am Co Secretary and hold the deeds to the property. Last year the next door property owners complained that a wall of our property was causing damp in theirs and that it was a type B party wall and we should pay the £1,000 to rectify the problem. A surveyor friend said in his view it was a type A party wall where costs are shared but the deeds may clarify matters. Bingo. Fascinating reading starting with the purchase of the land in 1878, how it would be divided up into plots with walls with castle style brick tops AND that these walls would be party walls where costs would be shared.

 

I photocopied the relevant para and sent it to the other owner asking how he proposed to rectify the problem and his proposals for cost sharing. Silence reigns. Thank goodness for the Deeds.

[daveboy]

The house is not on the "house registry" for some reason we do not know.

 

It will be because it hasn't changed hands since the 1950's .

[bear-uk]

Form FR1. Application for first registration. Land registration rules 2003

Trying to self conveyance myself but the system does not make it easy for those not in the know.

[vampire]

My grandad owned a plot of land,had old deeds on brown paper but no one could find them when he passed,it now has a big house on it.

[stagboy]

Deeds are not "obsolete" if you mean it in a sweeping sense.

 

Firstly. a lot of rural property is not registered - mainly because it hasn't changed hands in recent decades, so no event triggered the need to register electronically.

 

Second, old paper deeds carry far more information than is normally the case with newer land registry entries, and this detail can be vital in explaining the background to things like boundaries and rights of way, which in turn can be pivotal in deciding unforeseen disputes at a later time. Nor does the electronic system reveal any legally extant but pre-existing pubic rights of way, such as ancient enclosure award roads, which can potentially be resurrected on documentary evidence alone, despite there being no sign of them on the ground (indeed, many were never even built, but legally they exist if any saddo activist wants to research and then claim them - and your LR entry gives you no protection whatsoever in such cases).

 

In short, the electronic land registry is great, but DO NOT throw out your old deeds when you register. They contain important and irreplaceable details.

[Benthejockey]

Same with most electronic registration there's lots of boxes to fill in but if it doesn't fit in the box it doesn't get recorded.