A father-of-three from Middlesbrough is facing a large bill after claiming solicitors let him down when buying a flat 14 years ago.
Chris Morrison, 43, thought the property he bought in 2008 had the lease extended to over 900 years, but when trying to sell the flat recently, discovered it wasn’t extended and it could now cost him £12,500 to do so. He paid £63,000 for the flat, in Glendale Road, Tollesby, but was only granted a mortgage after the issue of extending the lease – which was just 61 years from expiring – was solved, or so he thought, reports Teeside Live.
He has had the property on the market and was ready to make a £5,000 loss to ensure a quick sale. But the lease issue has put the buyer off and now Chris could be forced to shell out big money in order to increase the lease and, thus, sell the property.
Chris wanted to sell the flat to join his wife’s mortgage at their family home, so that they could extend their house and give their children a bedroom each. Now his hopes of doing that are in tatters after failing to sell his flat and possibly being lumbered with a hefty bill, although there is an investigation underway to find out why the lease wasn’t extended.
“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,” explained Chris. "Part of the process of the sale was to have the lease extended, but 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 in that payment was to extend the leasehold.
"They haven’t and I don’t understand why. It’s had a massive impact.
"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 so there’s no court action taken.
“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 responsibility to check everything before the mortgage went ahead with the bank to make sure it was extended.
Chris says the financial burden has been huge. His wife 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,” said Chris.
“When you’re 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. It’s only come to light 14 years later.”
The solicitor firm has declined to comment while it investigates the matter.
For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea.
Find recommendations for eating out, attractions and events near you here on our sister website 2Chill
Find recommendations for dog owners and more doggy stories on our sister site Teamdogs
