Covenant by oil company

[Norfolklad]

I am owed money by a guy and are progressing getting a court order which may then mean getting a charge on his property. However a land registry search has revealed that a major oil company has a covenant saying no charges can be raised or the property sold unless the oil company gives permission. Any ideas as to what this means?

It means you cannot do what you want without the agreement of the oil company. They have an interest in the property. You should find another way of recovering the debt. Presumably if you were going down this route he owes you a lot of money? The charge is presumably so that in the event he sells you can get your money from the proceeds of sale?

Thanks, I am owed over £50k. Is there anyway I can find out more as I can't understand why an oil company would have an interest? A financial company, then yes, but an oil company?
The house is an 1890's semi on a housing estate, the guy who owns it shows up there on census in 2002 and the oil company registered the charge in 2011

It may be that he owes money to the oil company as well. They only way to find out would be to contact them.

I’m not sure you have described the situation accurately. Forget it’s an oil company. Please post the complete wording on the title at the land registry in the part where it refers to this covenant.

Maybe he worked for the company and had a loan from them which is secured on the property.

The text below is from Section B - B: Proprietorship Register

(08.09.2011) RESTRICTION: No disposition of the registered estate by the proprietor of the registered estate or by the proprietor of any registered charge, not being a charge registered before the entry of this restriction is to be registered without a written consent signed by the proprietor for the time being of the Charge dated 7 September 2011 in favour of Conocophillips Limited referred to in the Charges Register or their conveyancer.

The text below is from C: Charges Register

(08.09.2011) REGISTERED CHARGE dated 7 September 2011. (08.09.2011) Proprietor: CONOCOPHILLIPS LIMITED (Co. Regn. No. 529086) of Conocophillips Centre 2 Kingmaker Court, Warwick Technology Park, Gallows Hill, Warwick, Warwickshire CV34 6DB. 2 of

My guess is he has a loaned money from the oil company, which is US based, in relation to a business venture with the house as security. Have you tried looking him up on the Companies House website to see if he's a company director and/or shareholder or person with significant control. Are any charges are registered against any companies he's registered as a director of or a shareholder of? You can look at company accounts from the year the charge was registered and see if any company has been loaned money by him - could be termed a capital injection. A charge against his house suggests he has been personally funding any company rather than the company being able to raise funds itself.

I'm willing to bet he runs a petrol station or used to run one

It means that the company either has to give permission for a property transfer or new mortgage (I.e. a ‘disposition’) or the company can take the Charge (and restriction) off the register (if it’s been paid off) via a Discharge to Land Registry.

It doesn’t mean you can’t necessarily put a new Charge on the property - just that the other company might still have a vested interest, which they are trying to protect - so they need to give permission.

That looks very much like a secured loan and that there is also a mortgage on the property.

What it is saying is:

"No disposition of the registered estate by the proprietor"

The owner of the property cannot sell it
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"...or by the proprietor of any registered charge, not being a charge registered before the entry of this restriction"

A "registered charge" is something like a mortgage or secured loan. What this is saying is that the house also cannot be sold by anyone else who has a secured loan, or other charge, dated after their secured loan.

But, if there is any charge earlier than their secured loan (eg if there was an already existing mortgage) then that company are allowed to foreclose (or repossess if you prefer) the home regardless. The reason for this is that their security predates that of this oil company.
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"...without a written consent signed by the proprietor for the time being of the Charge dated 7 September 2011 in favour of Conocophillips"

Without written consent of this company.
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So, what is the practical upshot of all this? What it means is that you can certainly obtain a charge on his property; there is no problem in doing that.

However, you cannot force him to sell his house to get your money without written consent of this other company.

If you do get a charge on his house then, when he sells it, the mortgage is paid off first and then (assuming that it's just the oil company and you that have secured debts) the oil company is paid off next and then you.

If the house isn't enough to pay off your debt after paying off the mortgage and the oil company then it's just tough luck.

Conoco used to own Jet petrol stations in the UK, so that’s a good theory, that there could be some kind of debt arising from that.

After all, he’s unlikely to have actually bought a cargo of oil from then, let alone not paid for it!

Thanks for all your replies, lots of food for thought. What I know about him is:

Is a 50 something truck driver and has been most his working life. Searches show no CCJ’s, bankruptcies, good credit history, no criminal record.

Only charge on his property is the Conoco one, no record of any mortgage.

I wonder if his truck was via a scheme Conoco ran if he worked for them.