dream house, but title deeds say...

[Honneybunny]

hoping there's someone who can give some advice on the following:

dh and I have found the dream house. we were very naive 1st time buyers 7 years ago and were going to do things differently this time around: went on landregistry site and got the deeds on the property. they say the following:

bankruptcy notice entered under section 86(2) of the Land Regirstration act 2002 in respect of a pending action, as the title of the proprietor of the registrered estate appears to be affected by a petition in bankruptcy against XXX presented in the High Court (ref, ref).

this was 2007. then there follow a number of chronological restructions in the charges register for various mortgage lenders.

now what? we were thinking of putting an offer on the place, but now are scared. what does this mean practically: we would not want to be chased for debts made by present owner. have not yet got a solicitor, and would ask them this question.

it is such a lovely house... anyone know more about all this legal stuff?

that was a notice that somebody had tried to make him bankrupt in 2007. difficult to tell if he was, but if it is the bloke selling it then he probably wasn't ie the petition wasn't successful as his property would have passed to the official receiver. If he was then it may be the official receiver selling the house who can certainly pass good title to you.

It certainly wouldn't make you responsible for his debts if you bought it, but it may affect your credit rating if you did as much of the rating relates to your address.

talk to the estate agent and see if he knows anything about it. of course if you go ahead your solicitor will give you the full picture and advice

Talk to a solicitor. They'll be able to tell you quickly if there's a problem.

Basically the owners have run into a bit of financial difficulty. Do you know if they are selling it or is a creditor selling it. Not that it makes much difference. Your solicitor (and you do need to get one!) will insist that the register is cleared before exchange or get an obligation to clear it.

Any purchaser may get some nasty letters after they move in but you just "return to sender". Things may appear on a credit report but as it will be a different name to yours it is relatively easy to deal with.

It may be inconvenient but no-one will come chasing you for debt!

Your solicitor will ensure you get good title to the property. You will not be responsible for debts run up by previous owners.

I disagree with Freshmint regarding the possible effect on your credit rating. Since November 2004 credit reference agencies should not include information about anyone else in your file, even someone you live with who shares your surname, unless a financial connection has been created by, for example, applying for credit in joint names or opening a bank account in joint names. The debts of a previous occupant of this house should not therefore have any effect on your credit rating.

thanks everyone.
we have put this to our solicitor, and will hear back by monday. so far, it does look like the owner has not actually been made bankrupt. they are selling the house themselves. we just want to make sure that they are entitled to do this.
we have had our fair share with baylifs looking for the previous owner of our current house, and were just not keen on our next house being a continuation of this (or worse).

Your solicitor will carry out a bankrupcy search at some stage. This will say whether the owner has been made bankrupt, and your solicitor will ask the right questions of the seller's solicitor.

but they do prh47. I have a cousin who has bought a flat in london and his credit rating has been killed by his address. they will say that it isn't to do with anyone else's debt, but that part of credit rating is the area you live in. but it is clear they DO look at the previous history of the address and draw conclusions from it even though they aren't meant to...

He should ask to see his credit file. If it contains information about previous occupants of his address he should demand that it is removed. Credit checks must be carried out on people, not addresses.

However, postcode profiling is legitimate. If you live in an area most residents are on low incomes, for example, you probably won't be offered a platinum credit card.

tomorrow we are talking with our solicitor.

we are not worried about the road, or other residents. not even so much about the current owner, who is lovely, just gone through a bad patch i think. only thing we would want to ensure is that all's ok wrt transfer of deeds and that they are entitled to sell.

we really love the place, and hope all works out. will let you know.
many thanks once again for replying.

You can register a "disassociation" of some description so that credit checks do not attach someone else's debts to yours. I can't remember the details, but I think I read this on Credit Expert.