Buying an apartment that the current owner has not registered its ownership

mlb10theshow

Hi,

I'm in the process of purchasing a property but, my solicitor advised me that there is an issue with title in that the current owner has not registered its ownership in the land registry. My solicitor seems strongly against purchasing without them completing the registration first.

Is this a big issue and could delay the overall purchasing process?

Atlantic Dawn

Yes massive, avoid.

The_Conductor

If the vendor does not have clear title to the property- there is nothing to stop someone turning up 5 minutes after you pay your deposit (or even the full price) stating they own it- and legally- no one could dispute what they're saying.

Avoid, avoid, avoid........

garhjw

Op, run a mile! Not sure what type of cowboy would try to sell a property they do not have good title to.

Greenmachine

You'd be mad.

mlb10theshow

I forgot to mention in the original post that ' registration of the vendor is lodged in the land registry'

Lantus

No! If you were buying a car from someone who did not own it you'd run a mile. Same with anything. You cannot sell what you don't own. And any fool who parts with money to try and buy it probably has too much. It is 'highly odd' to have bought a property and the solicitor handling it not to of registered ownership at the time. Too many questions. Land registry could hold this up for a long time to establish ownership. Don't walk away. Run at high speed.

MarkAnthony

Simply get the vendor to register title. I'm very surprised this didn't happen during their purchase.

Be guided by your solicitor.

mlb10theshow

thanks for the answers