A little plea from me this week that will save time for everyone.
We all have busy working lives. We all deal with a never-ending barrage of emails. We all know there aren’t enough hours in the day to update everyone who wants an update on the progress of a transaction.
May I suggest one thing that will make life easier?
Check the register before sending a copy to the buyer’s solicitor.
If the names are incorrect, check why. Don’t leave it for the buyer’s solicitor to raise it as a query – that’s really an unnecessary enquiry.
If your clients have married since buying the property, please access the Land Registry via e-network services and update the register – it takes between 15 minutes and an hour for the Land Registry to send you an updated title.
But if you don’t do this, and instead send a copy of the marriage certificate to the buyer’s solicitor and ask them to submit it with their application, the Land Registry is unlikely to deal with the application quickly.
They may raise a requisition relating to it, delaying the application for what could be a substantial period of time.
If the application is made before or around the same time as the contract documents are issued, it’s much more efficient all round.
It saves time in not dealing with unnecessary enquiries and saves time when the application on completion is submitted.
And it’s not just the buyer’s solicitor who saves time. Who, as a seller’s solicitor, wants a requisition six to nine months down the line for something that could have been sorted out at the initial stages?
And remember: it’s a requirement of the Protocol at Step 7, which states:
Consider and advise in relation to any apparent defect in title or missing items in title documents, e.g. missing lease or discrepancies in names or addresses.
Please, check the title before sending the contract documents.
It saves time for everyone.
