I need to pick brains

[MKG]

Thanks Bonnie - very good advice and info which I shall take on board (and I don't dislike lawyers per se - just the ones I and OH have had costly dealings with ). I know absolutely that there are no tricky rights of way etc., and the neighbour's property is registered. Ours isn't - something to put right quickly. No mortgages or secured loans are involved on either property.

Luckily, the local LR office is in Nottingham, so that's not too much of a problem (I didn't know about the anti-fraud measures). And I've seen the plans for both properties ... if a surveyor is required for the degree of accuracy shown on them, well ... I think I'll draw up the plans myself so if you could tell me the scale, that would be very helpful. In fact, I may look more favourably on lawyers as a whole in the future.

Thanks again.

Mike

[oldjerry]

Mike ,I reckon you've got a damn good deal,and if the neighbour's still talking to you,happy days.Despite the size of this place,I'm still suffering from 'extra land envy'.
At least, with luck, it should be sorted in time to plant your top fruit this back end., great fun planning an orchard from scratch, more envy.
T'would be good to hear you're plans as things develop. Best Wishes.

[MKG]

Here you go, Bonnie - this is a good example of legal-eagle crap and the reason I have decided all over again to have a down on lawyers. OH was feeling a bit uneasy about not approaching a solicitor (exactly the thing they want her to feel). So she contacted her solicitor about the deal.

She was told ...

It would cost her £575 (not including surveyor's fees). Now, any solicitor may certainly charge what they see fit but that seems a little OTT. But then to be told that it would cost the neighbour the same amount for the same deal ... well, I smelled a rat.

According to this "solicitor" (and as it is a mere conveyancing matter, OH was no doubt speaking to a solicitor's clerk, but she wasn't told that) we MUST go through a solicitor, and our neighbour MUST do the same thing. Neither of these things is true but, according to the font of knowledge, we simply could not finalise the deal WITHOUT the services of two solicitors (she also informed OH that she could not act for both parties - that's an out and out lie in the case of a simple land transfer).

When OH began to ask a few questions, she wasn't given a single direct answer, but was told in no uncertain terms that unless she basically did as she was told and took this (bad) advice, we would not be able to transfer the land.

From start to finish, the advice she was given is absolute bulls**t. I feel sure that any licensed conveyancer who happens not to be a solicitor would agree with my grievance. I'm so annoyed that I've a good mind to report the firm to the Law Society - surely that august body would take a dim view of any solicitor lying to a client?

Sorry to rant, and I'm certainly not getting at you, Bonnie. Things would be easier if you opened an office in Retford

Mike

[Millymollymandy]

Do it Mike, do it!

[Green Aura]

You're absolutely right Mike - it's all rubbish - unless the law's changed in the last few years.

Our old house was landlocked, with part of my next door neighbours garden being longer than ours, blocking our street access. Fortunately said neighbours were my parents who kindly offered the offending strip of land so we could have a driveway. We didn't need to pay for the land but we paid all the solicitors fees and land registry. The solicitor was a bit wary at first but once he decided there was no conflict or interest and we weren't coercing anyone he did the whole lot -just short of £400 all in.

[MKG]

At last!!! We found a solicitor who will act for both parties at a very reasonable price. Obviously, given what other solicitors have said, this one must be incompetent and acting illegally. Har har har.

OH, continuing her worries about DIY conveyancing, decided she wanted a proper surveyor to measure up and do the plan for the Land Registry. Guess what? Surveyors are as bad as solicitors! Before I put my foot down, OH had been told that the Land Registry now insist upon using GPS data and that the surveyor would come out with all the equipment to do the job at £35 per hour, but that she didn't really know know long the job would take ("There may be access problems" - "There aren't any" - "But there may be some of which you're unaware" - "There aren't" - "But ...") . At this point I called an end to it - I'm doing the measuring and mapping, as all it's going to take is obtaining the current Land Registry plans and adding one line to them and a few figures actually stating a single measurement in English. That's in accordance with the British Standard, which is the only real requirement of the Land Registry.

I wonder how many other "professionals" feel the need to tell blatant lies in order to get work?

Mike

[Davie Crockett]

I wonder how many other "professionals" feel the need to tell blatant lies in order to get work?

Polititians????

[MKG]

Oh well - it was nice while it lasted

The deal has fallen through, as it turns out that the land isn't our neighbour's to sell (at least, not until she pays off the loan she'd taken out using the property as security). We are being charitable and assuming that she is stupid rather than verging upon the criminal.

It's taken us almost seven months to find that out. She could have told us right away and saved us a lot of time and money. No Chrissy pressie for her this year, then.

Mike

[bonniethomas06]

Hi MKG,

Sorry I missed your posts on this thread - but no need to apologise - I hate lawyers too, which is why I am retraining to be a florist!

Silly woman though, what a waste of time and effort and money :-(

[Thomzo]

Sorry to hear that Mike. I suspect she just didn't think. It probably just didn't occur to her that the sale of a part of the garden would affect the security. Any idea when she's likely to be able to sell? Would you consider renting the land off her until she could sell it? It would only be worth doing if you were going to plant annual veg, you wouldn't want to take the risk of planting expensive fruit trees until you owned the land.

Zoe

[MKG]

No, I wouldn't rent from her. It's a very complicated story, and I can't go into too much detail - but she may be about to lose the house.

Mike