No one we talk to seems to know the answer

[cas]

We wonder if you can help us with a question. We are buying a house which was repossessed, but it turns out a portion of the land with the house is legally separate and technically the bankrupt person still has title to it. We are therefore not sure of the deposition of this land, and wonder who really owns it. Is it still owned by the person who went bankrupt (as we would want to purchase it from them); or should it have been taken over by the court. No one we talk to seems to know the answer, and we don't want to proceed improperly. I appreciate this is not necessarily the sort of question you answer on your forum, but we would really appreciate any help as we are pretty stuck. Many Thanks

[MelanieGiles]

Hi cas and welcome to the forum. As ever we are glad to help with any type of query.

You will need to effect a Land Registry search to ascertain ownership of this portion of land. It is likely that it still forms part of the bankruptcy estate, unless it has been disclaimed by the Trustee.

If the Trustee has ceased to act, then the land may still be available for bankruptcy creditors, by being held as an "unrealised asset" by the Official Receiver. In which case you can make an offer to purchase it directly to said office.

Do you know the identify of the bankrupt, and what part of the country do you live in? I will try and find out which Official Receiver's office is likely to be dealing with this for you.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[go_4_broke]

Hi Cas

If you do carry out a search and find the land is unregistered you need to tread carefully.

It is possible that the bankrupt did not declare the land to the Official Receiver and may be hoping to reclaim it at a later date.

This could put you in a difficult position if you bought the land from them, because although there is protection for 3rd parties, this may be viewed as worthless because you are clearly aware of the bankruptcy and the OR may be within their rights to reclaim the land from you.

The same could be true if the land is registered and no bankruptcy restriction has been entered although this seems less likely, unless it has been disclaimed by the trustee as described by Melanie, in which case it was probably considered of very little value.

-Best

Please view my blog at www.go4broke.blogs.iva.co.uk

'6 years sticking my head into the Lion's mouth of debt !'