Bona Vacantia - Property Charge
Discussion
Wondered if anyone had experience of dealing with the Treasury Solicitor ?
We bought our property in 1990. It was a new-build and the developer discounted the price by about £30k which was due to be paid in 3 years time. The developer went bust and we were never asked for payment by them or the receiver.
We have since paid the building society mortgage off but are left with the 2nd charge of £30k on the deeds. There is a penalty for late payment of 10% over base rate, which if added to the charge could add up to more than the property's value.
There is a limitation on how long the debt can be chased for but it is not clear how long this is, the Treasury Solicitor's on-line documentation says :-
'Mortgages and charges will generally become statute-barred 12 years after the date at which they became repayable if no payments have been made or demanded. In the case of legal mortgages (as opposed to equitable mortgages) that vest in the Crown before the end of the 12th year of the limitation period, the limitation period is extended to 30 years. However, as a concession, in the case of legal mortgages we will not usually take advantage of the 30-year limitation period applicable to the Crown.'
Therefore unclear whether it's 12 years and now barred or another 13 to go.
They won't give any more information without being provided with full details at which point they may chase us for repayment, worst case scenario is that we could lose the house.
We would like to remortgage but can't with this charge already on the deeds, and would rather wait another 13 years than potentially lose the house. We would have been happy to pay the £30k 17 years ago if there had been someone to give it to.
Does anyone have any experience of this sort of situation or is able to recommend a solicitor with expertise in this area ?
We bought our property in 1990. It was a new-build and the developer discounted the price by about £30k which was due to be paid in 3 years time. The developer went bust and we were never asked for payment by them or the receiver.
We have since paid the building society mortgage off but are left with the 2nd charge of £30k on the deeds. There is a penalty for late payment of 10% over base rate, which if added to the charge could add up to more than the property's value.
There is a limitation on how long the debt can be chased for but it is not clear how long this is, the Treasury Solicitor's on-line documentation says :-
'Mortgages and charges will generally become statute-barred 12 years after the date at which they became repayable if no payments have been made or demanded. In the case of legal mortgages (as opposed to equitable mortgages) that vest in the Crown before the end of the 12th year of the limitation period, the limitation period is extended to 30 years. However, as a concession, in the case of legal mortgages we will not usually take advantage of the 30-year limitation period applicable to the Crown.'
Therefore unclear whether it's 12 years and now barred or another 13 to go.
They won't give any more information without being provided with full details at which point they may chase us for repayment, worst case scenario is that we could lose the house.
We would like to remortgage but can't with this charge already on the deeds, and would rather wait another 13 years than potentially lose the house. We would have been happy to pay the £30k 17 years ago if there had been someone to give it to.
Does anyone have any experience of this sort of situation or is able to recommend a solicitor with expertise in this area ?
A colleague of mine has dealt with the Treasury Solicitor - funnily enough I was talking to him about exactly that an hour or so ago. I doubt it's something anyone has done more than once or twice, and it will be slow going. Whether there is a different impetus due to the budget deficit, I do not know, but I don't think they'll do anything silly. Property vesting in the Treasury Solicitor (or one of the Duchies) by way of bono vacantia is a legal necessity where a company ceases to exist, not a way of the state making money.
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