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Original poster

Can anyone decipher this handwriting please?

43 replies

Anskl · 13/03/2023 18:08

Any idea what the word(s) underlined in red is?

I am trying to help my 88-year-old dad who has just found out his house isn't registered with the land registry. He can't find the deeds to register it either and is trying to piece together clues about where they could have gone.

Today we found this receipt from decades ago for when he cleared his mortgage balance - it makes some reference to deeds - 'transfer to deedstone' or 'deeds tome' but neither of those makes any sense to me. Any ideas?? Thank you...

OP posts:
AdaColeman · 13/03/2023 19:35

Halifax do offer to store your house deeds for you, once your mortgage is paid off. Have you got any old Halifax payment books, or letters from them with the roll number. IIRC they used to send letters annually with a record of all your payments, so there's a chance you might find something.
Good luck with it, I know what a worry it must be for you.

Sparklynewname · 13/03/2023 19:38

My Aunt and Uncle have their stuff stored at a deed store too. They had to go and look at them for something so needed to book an appointment and then go to the place. Aunt said it was fascinating looking at everything as the house is so old.

redastherose · 13/03/2023 22:56

All banks used to keep the house deeds as security while the loan was outstanding, some used to store them for you once the mortgage was repaid (or mostly repaid as pp said). Halifax should still hold the original Deeds for your parents house in their deeds store and all you need to do is contact them, ideally with your folks old mortgage roll number but if you don't have that they should still be able to trace them if you give them their full names and address. Once you've found them you need to instruct a solicitor to voluntarily register the title at the land registry.

PizzaPizza56 · 13/03/2023 23:00

redastherose · 13/03/2023 22:56

All banks used to keep the house deeds as security while the loan was outstanding, some used to store them for you once the mortgage was repaid (or mostly repaid as pp said). Halifax should still hold the original Deeds for your parents house in their deeds store and all you need to do is contact them, ideally with your folks old mortgage roll number but if you don't have that they should still be able to trace them if you give them their full names and address. Once you've found them you need to instruct a solicitor to voluntarily register the title at the land registry.

Solid advice. Agree with all of this. I think the mortgage account number is the bit coloured in white on the image.

Ichangedmynameonce · 13/03/2023 23:06

Looks like transfer to deeds done, to me

SpicyNikNak · 13/03/2023 23:06

Looks like "Deeds to Nil" to me

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 13/03/2023 23:13

Definitely in deedstore. You have the branch name, and I presume the account number is under your blocking out.

This plus your parents name or names, the property address and the relevant dates should be enough to trace the mortgage and the deeds.

Misunderestimated · 13/03/2023 23:13

The Halifax Deed Store was/is a huge robot-operated storage facility in Halifax for apparently 25% of the country's title deeds.
This short film mentions it at 36 seconds () - my mum was persuaded to keep a pound in an account and leave a pound outstanding on the mortgage so that they would continue to store the deeds for free.
If you can track down a statement or letter, I think they'll have the deeds in their system. Good luck.

neitherofthem · 13/03/2023 23:25

It is the Halifax Deedstore. They have the deeds to my house too. If you take the document into the branch you can get them to look into it.

bizzywiththefizzy · 13/03/2023 23:27

DisplayPurposesOnly · 13/03/2023 18:11

Deedstore? (Some kind of repository for deeds?)

That's exactly what I thought it said .

Offleyhoo · 13/03/2023 23:33

Agree deedstore

Rosecottage888 · 13/03/2023 23:42

SpicyNikNak · 13/03/2023 23:06

Looks like "Deeds to Nil" to me

Me too that's what I read straight away without reading any comments.

Original poster
Anskl · 14/03/2023 22:06

Thanks all, very helpful. My Dad and I are off to visit the branch of the Halifax listed on the receipt tomorrow to see what info they have on the deedstore. The account number is indeed on the receipt, blocked out in white.

I have everything crossed that the deeds are still safe in the deedstore. Dad was convinced he had hidden them in his loft (I subsequently spent a week searching through the loft and they are categorically not in there) so I'm hoping he's just muddled due to his dementia and he already hasn't withdrawn them from the deedstore and forgotten about this...

OP posts:
JetPlanesMeetingInTheAir2BRefuelled · 16/03/2023 18:37

Hope it went well @Anskl

Original poster
Anskl · 18/03/2023 12:29

An update. Not the news we wanted to hear from the Halifax - they confirmed that while the deeds had been in the deedstore at one point, they had been posted back to my parents 10 years ago.

Cue another fruitless search through the entire house leading us to conclude that they must have been accidentally thrown away.

The next day I instructed a solicitor to help with first registration (I have Power of Attorney)...an hour later my Dad phoned me to say he had found the deeds!! I asked him where on earth they were, given how we had turned the house upside down...he said he can't remember! That's dementia for you.

I'm so relieved that registering the deeds should now be straightforward. This good news came on my birthday too, so even more reason to celebrate.

OP posts:
DisplayPurposesOnly · 18/03/2023 12:39

Exhausting! I'm glad you got there in the end tho

Binfire · 18/03/2023 16:56

Phew how stressful! Well done for persevering.

seratoninmoonbeams · 18/03/2023 17:26

Oh wow. I'm so pleased for you. Things like this are so stressful. I always think the worst case scenario too. Hope you have a lovely birthday 🥳

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