Personal Banking Issue - Advice Required

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Hello All, I am not sure this is the place to ask. Please say if you would like me to remove this.

I currently bank with a legacy whilst using Monzo for my day to day spending.

My father had his mortgage with the same bank. Sadly he passed away earlier this year after a short illness.

So now we have a small holding with a large mortgage & my mother cannot afford to pay the mortgage. So we have found a suitable buyer & the solicitor required me to go on the land registry due to my parents (my mum is actually my step mother) as they were tenants in common.

All good so far & was hoping to have the farm sold & to start sorting my mother out with a new place with the equity.

However now the legacy bank is being awkward, after initially saying that they would allow me to go on the registry however now we have actually come to do it they have blocked it saying that we require myself & my mum to get a mortgage together before they allow me to go on the registry so that we can sell the house.

I won’t go into details however I have my own mortgage, my mother doesn’t work due to ill health & almost being retirement age plus the value of the mortgage we can’t remortgage the house with myself.

Bare in mind the details are coming to me second hand from the solicitor via my mum but are the bank able to do this as it could result my mum being made bankrupt & losing her home for the last 18 years with no where to move on to. It is the last thing I want to see & I know my dad would turn in his grave knowing this was happening.

Is there anything I can do or are the bank within their rights.

Sorry for my first main post being a bit serious & if this isn’t the place please remove it.

Many thanks

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It’s probably not the best place to do this but the only thing you can do is speak to the bank. I’m not expert by all accounts but as far as I’m aware as long as permission is given by all registered Tennant’s of the property then a mortgage can be taken out by one or many of the tenants.
I might be wrong.
Probably the best place to ask this would be the citizens advice bureau. They would be able to advise you more or at least point you in the right direction

Ps this in no way constitutes financial advice and anything you do is your own decision. (sorry work for a bank. Just covering my back)

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Thank you for your words, yeah did wonder about if I should have posted.

Hope no offence has been caused

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So sorry for your loss.

No life insurance? Usually a requirement for a mortgage and on a death the mortgage is paid off, at least that is what I was told when taking out my mortgages.

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Don’t worry. We all just wish you luck with it and are sorry for your loss

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Sorry to hear this Lee. I don’t have any specific advice on this issue and I think speaking to the bank, or the executor or your father’s estate (if that isn’t you) is the way to go, but if you haven’t already perhaps post your message above on the Money Saving Expert forums, they have a much bigger audience. Good luck. D

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Hi Lee. Condolences on your loss. I suspect that there is a degree of complexity here that is not immediately clear around why the solicitor is saying you need to be registered at the Land Registry. This is likely to be that you have inherited an interest in the land and need to be party to the sale contract. The best advice I can give is that you should visit the solicitor with your step mother and discuss this.

The solicitor may be unaware of the difficulties the bank has raised and they may be able to offer an alternative solution. Ask them if there is a way to execute the sale without first registering your interest at the Land Registry. Set out the issues and ask them what they recommend you do as the most practical solution.

If adding your name is the only option you’ll want to be sure that the sale is proceeding and can be completed quickly so you are party to the transaction for the shortest practicable time.

In terms of your bank they operate within closely defined rules and local staff don’t always have the authority or experience to deal with a complex issue like this. They won’t normally talk to you about another account without the account holders permission so make sure your step mother has authorised this.

Once you’ve met with the solicitor and understand the issues and options don’t be afraid to ask to speak to someone more senior in the bank to work this out. It’s in their interest to find a solution to complete the sale and get their mortgage repaid.

Finally take care not to add you name to the Land Registry until you fully understand the farm’s financial position and know that the assets can repay all the debts. You naturally want to help but you shouldn’t burden your existing financial position and future if the situation is worse than you know.

Good luck.

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There are two issues with the ownership of land and property in England and Wales, what is stated on actual paper deed and what is stated in the Land Registry file. The is also the issue that the UK’s legal system is based on case Law, and different cases may rule in conflicting ways. In theory the paper deeds are the ultimate arbiter over the record in the Registry.

When you have a mortgage with a bank, building society, or similar lender they will often take physical possession of any deeds and hold them in their bank vaults, often at a central location (i.e. not at your local branch).

I had a situation where I wished to amend the named parties on a deed and the bank became obstructive. They would not release the deed for amendment by the Registry. They insisted on exorbitant fees being paid to release a deed for amendment and implied it could only be done at the time a mortgage was paid off (i.e. on sale of the land or property, or on completion of a remortgage with another institution to the same or greater value - i.e. not a secondary mortgage or one of insufficient value to pay off the first).

In contrast to the bank, the actual Land Registry were much more open and flexible. In my circumstances they agreed to may a change in their records with a note that the original deed was to be updated when it was next in their possession (normally at the time of change of mortgage firm or paying off any mortgage).

Getting the changes made by the Registry required completion and submission of forms along with payment of statutory fees. Such fees being a fraction of what the bank wanted to charge me.

Completing the forms correctly was no issue for me and I felt at the time that most people could have done so without needing a solicitor to do it for them. However, I have worked in Insurance and The Crown Estate so I appreciate that others may find them confusing or daunting.

Things also become more complex when land may be multiple entry numbers in the Registry files or there are multiple deeds involved, if they in border areas or in Scotland or Northern Ireland where the Law and case Law is different.

I would strongly recommend you seek legal advice from a property Law expert rather than just a generalist solicitor conveyancer.

Even if you are right or know more than the bank about these issues you do face the fact that you are up against a big corporate body when you deal with a bank. The dept you speak to do not normally have access to or sight of any deeds, and most of the staff will just be following their usual tick box flowchart mentality of working and not know what to do when a non standard case comes in.

Often you may need the input of a legal professional to get them to budge, and even when conveyancers contact them they often get a solicitor in their firm to sign the correspondence as they know it will carry more weight.

I really hope you can get your problem resolved.

Also, as a final point. Most legal firms will give you an initial free or set fee consultation before even agreeing to undertake any work for you. You can take advantage of this and have a few different consultations with different firms to help you be clear on where you stand and what action can be taken.

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There are other issues in land and property Law relating to ownership, i.e. is something freehold, leasehold or commonhold.

If this is not freehold but leasehold then there could be the complication of more parties involved or more paperwork

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Hello all, wow thank you for some in depth replies. I am just on the move at the moment but I shall sit down this evening & read them fully to understand your thoughts.

We are dealing with a solicitor. I had voiced my concern with him at the point of adding me to the register which would hold me responsible for the mortgage to which he contacted the bank & they said it was ok. However since getting the registry signed we are now at this point.

The most frustrating issue is that we have a buyer, they have the funds in place & the legal stuff is ready to go. We just need to exchange!

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