Solicitor probe in row over flat sale ‘nightmare’
OWNER DISCOVERS ERROR 14 YEARS AFTER PURCHASE
A DAD has found himself in a “nightmare battle” which could cost him thousands of pounds after claiming he was let down by his solicitors when buying his first home.
In 2008, Chris Morrison bought a flat in Glendale Road, in Tollesby, for £63,000 but was only granted a mortgage after the issue of extending the lease – which was just 61 years from expiring – was solved. The 43-year-old says he was informed that the seller had extended the lease to over 900 years.
But, 14 years later, as Chris has come to sell the flat, it’s transpired that the lease was never extended – and he now faces the costly prospect of forking out £12,500 to do so. Chris had found a buyer for the flat, that he paid £63,000 for in 2008, and was prepared to sell at a loss of £5,000 to ensure a quick sale.
He planned to join his wife’s mortgage so the couple could extend their home and give each of his three children their own bedroom. Now he says the buyer has pulled out and they have lost their building slot. The Gazette understands an investigation into the lease, and why it was not extended, is ongoing.
“The lease on the flat had run down to 61 years and the bank, at the time, wouldn’t allow me to have a mortgage based on that period of time,” said Chris. “Part of the process of the sale was to have the lease extended. Now my buyer pulled out of the sale, I’m left with a property at the moment that I cannot sell.” Chris says an initial investigation has been carried out by the solicitor firm. He said: “They’ve come back and said the other solicitors at the time were paid a substantial amount of money, £2,000, and they believe that £2,000 payment was to extend the leasehold. They haven’t [extended the lease] and I don’t understand why.
“It’s 14 years ago, a lot of files have been destroyed. The other solicitors weren’t representing me, it was the solicitors I’d employed who were responsible for checking everything before the mortgage went ahead with the bank to make sure it was extended.
“It’s had a huge impact financially for my partner and I as we’re paying for a mortgage and full council tax. I’ve run up credit card bills in order to pay the council tax.”
If Chris pays to extend the lease now, the most recent valuation is for £12,500 and he says the financial burden has been huge. His partner has had to return to work full time following the birth of their daughter as they work to make ends meet.
“I must admit, people say moving house is the most stressful time of your life but when you come across something like this that you’re just totally unprepared for it. When your dealing with solicitors, my expertise doesn’t lie with law and everything around it, these are the people I’ve put my trust in and paid £700 in 2008 to carry out what I thought was a simple instruction of purchasing the property and making sure the lease was extended.”
The solicitor firm has declined to comment while it investigates the matter.