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What would you do ? Lost deeds whos lying

16 replies

alanismorrisons · 18/08/2025 17:20

Buying a house, it’s unregistered. Didn’t find out until 6 weeks in, not too sure if we’re 100% okay with a potential possessory title, elderly vendors in their 90’s but still very much on their own functional, they’ve already brought a new house and have basically moved in. We’ve sold our house and now in a small rental while this nightmare goes on.

Vendors solicitors are very slow, too much work and not enough staff it seems, it takes them ages to get anything done. Anyway, when applying for the first registration of the property they’ve had to give evidence they’re the true owners and can legally sell the house to get a title absolute, Mrs vendor has always said their solicitors have their original deeds, then she found them, well a copy of a copy, so this has been sent off with a declaration of truth to LR, LR have now sent a requisition and asked for a further declaration of truth, its taken their solicitors 3 weeks to get this out to the vendors, at which point the vendors have said the questions on there make no sense and they can’t possibly answer them as they’re ridiculous questions, without telling us what the questions are, so who knows !! Apparently solicitors have sent out an amended copy because they admitted they’d ticked the wrong boxes for them to sign, It’s all massively doing our heads in. This is what our vendor has said.

All along we’re still wondering where the original deeds are and if you can even get a title absolute with only a copy of the originals.
Vendor is adamant the solicitors had to originals and have lost them, their solicitor says the deeds were signed out of the system. The paranoid part of me thinks one of their kids will turn up in a few years to claim ownership of the property whilst we’re stuck with the possessory title for 12 years.
Am I being daft or would anyone else worry why nobody knows where the deeds are ?

OP posts:
Witchlite · 18/08/2025 17:28

Insist that the sellers get (and pay for) an insurance indemnity policy that protects you if there is any claim against your ownership of the title. I think it can even transfer to new owners, but check. They cost under £100.

I’m surprised your solicitor is not insisting on it already.

edited to say the Portman Building society “lost” my parents deeds (along with everyone else’s) rather than transfer them in an order.y fashion and file them. It is a known thing to happen.

alanismorrisons · 18/08/2025 17:38

Witchlite · 18/08/2025 17:28

Insist that the sellers get (and pay for) an insurance indemnity policy that protects you if there is any claim against your ownership of the title. I think it can even transfer to new owners, but check. They cost under £100.

I’m surprised your solicitor is not insisting on it already.

edited to say the Portman Building society “lost” my parents deeds (along with everyone else’s) rather than transfer them in an order.y fashion and file them. It is a known thing to happen.

Edited

My solicitors want nothing to do with it until it’s registered. The vendors solicitors did say they would take out an indemnity cover though. I worry about that though as doesn’t it only cover the market price of the house as it is now? What about money we spend on works we need to do to the house ? We wouldn’t gain any profit if the worst was to happen

OP posts:
Yachtingaroundtheworldiwish · 18/08/2025 17:42

Aren’t deeds held electronically by the Land Registry these days?

alanismorrisons · 18/08/2025 17:48

Yachtingaroundtheworldiwish · 18/08/2025 17:42

Aren’t deeds held electronically by the Land Registry these days?

Not with an unregistered property

OP posts:
HonoriaBulstrode · 18/08/2025 17:51

Aren’t deeds held electronically by the Land Registry these days?

Not if it hasn't been registered, which it likely won't have been if the vendors have lived there for many years.

edited to say the Portman Building society “lost” my parents deeds (along with everyone else’s) rather than transfer them in an order.y fashion and file them. It is a known thing to happen.

Yes. Looking at you, High Street bank which shall be nameless as we currently have a complaint in progress.

alanismorrisons · 18/08/2025 18:08

So what do we do ? Go ahead ? I don’t want to lose money in the long run. Keep going back and forth and this has really taken its toll with the amount of shit

OP posts:
Redshoeblueshoe · 18/08/2025 18:17

My solicitors lost the deeds to my house. The house sale went through, and the solicitors were struck off.

alanismorrisons · 18/08/2025 19:06

Redshoeblueshoe · 18/08/2025 18:17

My solicitors lost the deeds to my house. The house sale went through, and the solicitors were struck off.

Oh really ?

OP posts:
LifeBeginsToday · 18/08/2025 19:36

Another one with lost deeds. Well lost lease documents. We are currently selling. My solicitor says its fine and very common, but I'll rest easy at exchange.

We have extended the lease twice since and still get asked for the original deed.

alanismorrisons · 18/08/2025 19:49

So seems quite common then. I think I’m just letting my mind run away with me… but this is a massive financial transaction and I don’t want us to end up in the shit, we love this house but have seriously considered walking due to the delays and vendors solicitors being so hopeless. We’re 17 weeks in and still haven’t got the draft contracts lol

OP posts:
Redshoeblueshoe · 18/08/2025 19:49

It wasn't for losing the deeds, I don't know what happened but when I went to the office to see what was happening there were several other people there making complaints. Then 2 months later I saw they had been struck off.

alanismorrisons · 18/08/2025 20:42

Redshoeblueshoe · 18/08/2025 19:49

It wasn't for losing the deeds, I don't know what happened but when I went to the office to see what was happening there were several other people there making complaints. Then 2 months later I saw they had been struck off.

This solicitors have quite a reputation in our local town for being lousy, I’ve said to dh if we do end up pulling out any offer on another house will be under the terms that they don’t use these solicitors !

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 18/08/2025 22:59

By chance, I went through this exact thing.

My late mother lodged her original deeds with her solicitor. After probate was granted, I requested them. They said I had already collected them (this was a lie).

With the help of an another local solicitor, who had the advantage of being neither incompetent nor dishonest, I filled in forms saying the originals were lost, and swearing that the boundaries were correct (since I had known the house since I was a baby) and eventually it was registered so I could sell it as Executor.

Some time later, the idiot solicitor posted me the originals, which they had filed under her original married name. (She had remarried before starting to use that solicitor).

I did not find the forms very arduous.

alanismorrisons · 19/08/2025 07:46

PigletJohn · 18/08/2025 22:59

By chance, I went through this exact thing.

My late mother lodged her original deeds with her solicitor. After probate was granted, I requested them. They said I had already collected them (this was a lie).

With the help of an another local solicitor, who had the advantage of being neither incompetent nor dishonest, I filled in forms saying the originals were lost, and swearing that the boundaries were correct (since I had known the house since I was a baby) and eventually it was registered so I could sell it as Executor.

Some time later, the idiot solicitor posted me the originals, which they had filed under her original married name. (She had remarried before starting to use that solicitor).

I did not find the forms very arduous.

Hi thanks for the reply. Can I ask what title you was granted ?

OP posts:
housethatbuiltme · 19/08/2025 09:40

I think lost deeds are REALLY common.

My mams house had the deeds but there was a small field where previous owners said was part of the property but had no deeds (it made sense to be part of the property as it cut into/across the property and was basically an access point). We parked our cars in it and put up a fence, gate, driveway and then after so long they registered it as our without the original deeds anyway.

It means the house has two sets of deeds, one for the building and one for the land but thats not a big deal really.

PigletJohn · 19/08/2025 12:53

alanismorrisons · 19/08/2025 07:46

Hi thanks for the reply. Can I ask what title you was granted ?

Sorry I can't remember and do not have correspondence to hand

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