House in Joint Names

Cryogenic

Cryogenic

Cryogenic

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Joined
10 Jul 2007
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If a house is in 3 names with all 3 living under the same roof, and say person 1 (mature female adult) doesn't now like the other 2 people for whatever reason, and is threatening to sell the house, and pressurising person 2 (a young adult over 18) into signing their share over for a pittance. What rights do person 2 and person 3 (me) have, and do they have the first right to buy the 33% share from person 1?

Also, person 2 and 3 want to ensure that nothing underhanded goes on with the deed as person 1 is extremely good at manipulating people. What preventative measures can they take to ensure their deed paperwork are safe e.g. a preemptive report to a police in case something happens in the future (will this be taken seriously?), moving the deeds to another solicitor for storage, or at bank deed storage facility if possible, and/or having some sort written authority to the solicitor to ensure the paperwork can only be altered when person 2 and person 3 are physically present with an independant witness. Any ideas? Ta. :)
 
I'd speak to a solicitor, sounds like they will be able to draw up contracts and provide the storage. Person 1 would have to agree to all of this obviously!
 
If the house is indeed in all three names then you will all three be on the deeds and the house cannot be sold without all three signatures.
 
take legal advice no one on here is qualified to answer your question properly. Not without looking first at the deeds anyway.
 
Hades said:
If the house is indeed in all three names then you will all three be on the deeds and the house cannot be sold without all three signatures.
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Indeed, but where you have a situation where one person is buckling under pressure and the other (me) fretting with what she is planning next. I want to take all necessary steps, she is extremely cunning and there are ways of gaining power of authority.
 
I think it depends on whether it is a tenancy in common or a joint tenancy, not sure though. As a few have said, it's best to speak to a solicitor, land law is too complicated! :p
 
Disclaimer: Law student having just finished Land Law course... :p

1. Where is your property? (as in, what town?) Was it sold to you recently? In all likelihood, the property is registered at the Land Registry. This means that the importance of the deed to the property is very much reduced.

2. Are your names all registered on the Land Registry? If you don't know the answer, then please indicate how did you come to receive/buy your share in the house - this may reveal the status of the ownership.

All the subsequent advice depends on how your share of the house is held, whether it is by virtue of being actually named on the Register, or whether it is an "equitable" share of the house.

Basically, in summary...

1. If your name is on the Register, Person 1 cannot force you to sell the house - all 3 of you must agree to the sale.

2. If your share is held only as an "equitable share" (i.e. your name is not listed on the Register) then the person/people who have their names on the title have the legal right to sell the property, not necessarily with your permission. But also, they will hold any proceeds of sale "on trust" for you (i.e. they have the legal title, but the benefit belongs to you). This then becomes a bit more tricky to enforce the correct sale and distribution of the proceeds.

As for your second paragraph:

1. As I said, in a property that is Registered at the Land Registry, it is not really necessary to "protect" the deeds, because ownership is proven from the records at the Land Registry, not by producing the deeds.

2. Any solicitor who helps Person 1 "cheat" Person 2 and 3 out of their proceeds will be personally liable to make up the amount of loss. As far as I know, most solicitors will not help in this way, not only because of their personal liability but also because getting struck off is just not worth it...
 
jas72 said:
take legal advice no one on here is qualified to answer your question properly. Not without looking first at the deeds anyway.
Click to expand...

I was hoping there was someone with legal training to give me a pointer. Strangely, you just given me a brainwave, I think I can contact my home insurance company legal line which is free to home insurance customers for a few tips. Doh!:)
 
jhmaeng said:
Disclaimer: Law student having just finished Land Law course... :p

1. Where is your property? (as in, what town?) Was it sold to you recently? In all likelihood, the property is registered at the Land Registry. This means that the importance of the deed to the property is very much reduced.

2. Are your names all registered on the Land Registry? If you don't know the answer, then please indicate how did you come to receive/buy your share in the house - this may reveal the status of the ownership.

All the subsequent advice depends on how your share of the house is held, whether it is by virtue of being actually named on the Register, or whether it is an "equitable" share of the house.

Basically, in summary...

1. If your name is on the Register, Person 1 cannot force you to sell the house - all 3 of you must agree to the sale.

2. If your share is held only as an "equitable share" (i.e. your name is not listed on the Register) then the person/people who have their names on the title have the legal right to sell the property, not necessarily with your permission. But also, they will hold any proceeds of sale "on trust" for you (i.e. they have the legal title, but the benefit belongs to you). This then becomes a bit more tricky to enforce the correct sale and distribution of the proceeds.

As for your second paragraph:

1. As I said, in a property that is Registered at the Land Registry, it is not really necessary to "protect" the deeds, because ownership is proven from the records at the Land Registry, not by producing the deeds.

2. Any solicitor who helps Person 1 "cheat" Person 2 and 3 out of their proceeds will be personally liable to make up the amount of loss. As far as I know, most solicitors will not help in this way, not only because of their personal liability but also because getting struck off is just not worth it...
Click to expand...

Thanks for that mate, I was googling the stuff about the land registry and as you say, things seem to be going in the online direction. Also, don't be sure about point 2 and solicitors, a friend of mine had personal experience of a property 'cheat', don't know whatever came of it though, or if it was a just a mistake so can't really comment.

The property is in Accrington and was purchased just over 11 months ago. The names are all on the register.
 
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Well, in that case, she will not be able to sell if you don't agree. (As far as I know,) It's as simple as that. The property will be registered under the Land Registry if it has been bought 11 months ago, so deed does not make any difference.

Person 1 could convince Person 2 to sell Person 2's share to Person 1, but if you (Person 3) don't agree to the sale, all that will do is increase Person 1's share, not give her some right to force a sale. It would have been different if you (or Person 2) were not in the register, but since it is on there, all of you have equal rights as to agree or refuse to sell, and you need a unanimous agreement to sell the house.

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PS. Obviously, what I said does not mean that solicitors can't be bent - just that the consequences are usually enough to deter most solicitors. And if you're the victim of a bent solicitor, you can sue the solicitor rather than go after the person who cheated you out of your share.
 
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