Property not registered with Land Registry Office.

Cuauhtemoc

Another query from myself.
Any comments appreciated.

Quick run down....
Bought an apartment(new development) 2 years ago.
Paid solicitors fees, have broken down receipt and all stating land registry costs, solicitors fees etc.
I'm half way through moving my mortgage to a cheaper lender when the legal dept for my bank called to say that no property had shown up belonging to me at this address when they searched the land registry(or however it is they check these things).
They contatced my previous solicitor who informed them that they still hadn't registered the property because the Land registry fees "Cost more than expected" and that i owed them nearly €500 to complete the registration.
I was never contacted and asked for this money(2 years nearly passed!!)


Firstly are there any implications of the property not being registered?

Secondly should i have to pay this as the receipt i have states that Land registry fees were included in my bill?

My own bank have 'kindly' offered add it to my current legal fees, but still, should i have to pay it?

Thanks.

C.

The_Conductor

First of all- it can actually take years to fully register property and have a title deed transferred over to you (and hence to your bank where you have your mortgage). I am in a not dissimilar situation to yourself, three years down the line. While it can be galling- you may end up having to cough up more towards the registration fees. If the receipt that you have clearly and unequivocally states that its in full and final payment for x,y,z (including land registry costs) maybe you could argue it out- but unless it does you might not have a leg to stand on.

It can sometimes take years to transverse the landregistry office. Transactions that might usually take days or weeks to complete (and would be expected as such) can sometimes overrun totally unbeknowst to you. Problems are most likely to arise with secondhand properties, or properties that are being sold prior to probation of a will or have question marks over the their current deeds of title. You might have no idea of this in advance.

Then again- you might just have a solicitor who is so muddle minded that things can sit in a filing cabinet in his backoffice forever, while it wades through his day to day stuff hoping to eventually getting around to your paperwork. While the minimum wage may not seem like a lot of money- it can be a good reason for not hiring additional apprentices/legal assistances.

Book an appointment, sit down and discuss it with your solicitor- you may find they are a lot more reasonable than you imagine.

The_Conductor

Ps- your bank will probably charge about Euro 220 to add a legal mortgage to a deed of ownership.

Cuauhtemoc

Cheers for that.

It was a new property so it shouldn't have had any prior stuff to make it awkward.
The solicitors seem fairly competent though and are distant relatives so i'll probably just bite the bullet on it.

And as for the 220 bank charge...i'm hoping thats covered in Ulster banks switcher package.

Victor

My sister had the deeds changed on her house and it took several years.... because the solicitor moved office and lost her cheque .... until she showed him that the cheque had been cashed ....