Should I be concerned?

pennypitstop

The solicitor i used to purchase my house has liquidated.
I got a letter from the Law Society of Ireland re: outstanding work and have been advised to get a solicitor to contact them.

This is the gist:
Deed of transfer of my house has not been registered with the Property Registration Authority and until this is done the property is not registered in my name and my title is not in order.

Title and mortgage are also not registered.

I know nothing about this, payed the solicitor at the time and left it in his hands.
Is this serious?
Can it be easily rectified?

Worried, but hopefully someone here can put me at ease until I speak to my own solicitor. thanks

NOTE: I have contacted my current solicitor via text (he is on hols) and he sent a short text 'shouldn't be a problem'

seamus

If your previous solicitor has gone into liquidation and your money has gone missing, then the law society have a compensation fund which you can claim from. They will provide you with the money required to complete whatever works your previous solicitor did not complete (and had been paid for).

Your current solicitor will likely fill out the claims for you.

username123

Yeah I got a letter a number of years after I bought my place saying the solicitors Id used for the conveyancing had been struck off by the law society and new solicitors had taken over their files, discovered that the conveyancing hadnt been completed and would like to inform me that they had completed it free of charge.

Its really bad form that you pay for a legal service, and you do not know whether or not its been carried out until you get a letter like this.

Paulw

I'm currently in a similar situation. But, for some reason, the Law Society have not yet paid the new solicitor to do the work, even though I bought my property 7 years ago, and my previous solicitor was struck off 6 years ago. I have provided the Law Society with all the documentation I can to prove I paid my solicitor in full at the time, but they have still not used the compensation fund to get the work done.

Very frustrating, and I continue my quest to get it resolved. This is now going on over 3 years.

godtabh

Can these errors in conveyance allow people to walk away from the process? ie had back the keys as "technically" they havent bought the house? Just interested to know more

The Jaw

Firstly there is no need to be overly concerned.

Solicitors are not allowed to Incorporate as a company so they cannot go into liquidation. They have either retired, closed down or else been struck off. For all of these scenarios there is either Insurance ( Run-Off Insurance needs to be in place for 6 years after a practice closes). If it is passed that time there is a compensation fund.

The Registration has little enough to do with youer actual ownership oif the property. When you purchased you will have signed a Deed of Assurance. That is the document that actually places the house in your name. The Registration is the formal acknolwedgement of this. It also acts as a way of nothing the Banks interest on the property ( as we all know, the Bank owns the property until you pay the mortgage off).

In fairness the Law Society are usually pretty good about this, but it takes time.

Bottom line is that you still own the property, it is just a pain in the a**

seamus

godtabh wrote: »

Can these errors in conveyance allow people to walk away from the process? ie had back the keys as "technically" they havent bought the house? Just interested to know more

Hand them back to who though? The seller has presumably been paid (and in any case the purchase is guaranteed by contract), and the house is purely security for the bank, it doesn't "own" the property. Failing to go through with the process will at best leave you with a mortgage-sized unsecured debt on your head.

godtabh

The Jaw wrote: »

Firstly there is no need to be overly concerned.

Solicitors are not allowed to Incorporate as a company so they cannot go into liquidation. They have either retired, closed down or else been struck off. For all of these scenarios there is either Insurance ( Run-Off Insurance needs to be in place for 6 years after a practice closes). If it is passed that time there is a compensation fund.

The Registration has little enough to do with youer actual ownership oif the property. When you purchased you will have signed a Deed of Assurance. That is the document that actually places the house in your name. The Registration is the formal acknolwedgement of this. It also acts as a way of nothing the Banks interest on the property ( as we all know, the Bank owns the property until you pay the mortgage off).

In fairness the Law Society are usually pretty good about this, but it takes time.

Bottom line is that you still own the property, it is just a pain in the a**

seamus wrote: »

Hand them back to who though? The seller has presumably been paid (and in any case the purchase is guaranteed by contract), and the house is purely security for the bank, it doesn't "own" the property. Failing to go through with the process will at best leave you with a mortgage-sized unsecured debt on your head.

I love the internets some times!

If the deeds are in your name but the conveyance process not completed does that mean the bank has an unsecured debt?