Thanks for all the replies. Just to deal with a couple of the points raised:
Dod101 wrote:The owner may have died but may not. Would it not be more productive to assume that he is around somewhere? This is presumably barren land with nothing on it, not rented out to anyone and in all just sitting there. No maintenance of any sort, no taxes to be paid on it. These would all I think provide some sort of lead which might prove helpful.
The land is vacant, but the strange thing is that my client recalls that there was quite a large mock-Tudor detached house on it, built in the late 20's. He says that when he was a child in the 1980's it was in a very poor state.
The current owner (`Mr X') bought it in 1987 (at which point it was apparently derelict) and my client says it was completely demolished a couple of years later.
However, I've discovered that Mr X was made bankrupt in 2002, so I've written to the Official Receiver to see if they have any information. What I can't understand is (1) why he did nothing with the land for 15 years; and (2) why the property (which is in a good area, and must be worth a fair amount just as a vacant site) wasn't sold to pay the owner's creditors.
How about a search of the deeds of the last known address?
Title deeds no longer exist for registered titles. The only information is that at the Land Registry. The address Mr X gave at the time he bought the property is now a carpet shop some 60 miles away. I've spoken to the owner, who has owned it for 20 years, didn't buy it from Mr X, and has never heard of him.
Did the registered owner have any local connections?
No idea, and no easy way of finding out, particularly as it was nearly 35 years ago that he bought it.
It seems to me that without any information, searching the death statutory records is like researching the proverbial needle in a haystack since, if he died, he could have died anywhere and unless he has a particularly unusual name how will you know if he is your man?
Yes - some replies seem to have been based on the assumption that he's dead, but we've no evidence that he is. And the problem with the various suggestions for obtaining a death certificate is that all of them only work if there's an actual death. As the purchase was `only' 34 years ago he may very well still be alive, though if he is why has he done nothing with the land?
One possibility that occurred to me is that he might be
non compos mentis in a nursing home somewhere, and nobody knows that he owns the land.
Mike4 wrote:I wonder if a completely different avenue of enquiry might be council tax or business rates. Presumably all land has to pay one or the other, so could an enquiry to the local council about whether the tax/rates account is up to date at least yield a clue as to whether the missing owner is still paying them?
A good idea in principle, but not in this case. As I said, the land is vacant, so not subject to either council tax or business rates.
Another tack I guess is the adverse possession route. If your client puts a big shiny fence up with a sign on it saying he is adversely possessing the land and giving contact details, someone will probably pop up objecting, should there be anyone to notice.
I did mention this, but there's a slight drawback, in that you have to occupy the land for 10 years before you can make a claim, and my client's not that patient!
Avantegarde wrote:A question: is the fact that the mystery owner's name is still on the Land Registry records not a good indication that he is, in fact, still alive? After all, how often do people buy or inherit land and forget or fail to change the ownership registration? Surely it is the first thing most people would do?
Yes, it's a
prima facie indication that he's still alive, but it's by no means conclusive. An increasing number of people are dying without having made a Will and with no close relatives, so that their estate is never administered. There's a list of unclaimed estates issued by the Treasury Solicitor, which I've checked to no avail.
richlist wrote:I'm sure I recall buying property in the past where the ownership couldn't be traced back beyond a certain date and I paid for an indemnity policy in case the original owner ever turned up.
So, can't you just pay for an insurance policy.......presumably they do all the hard work or at least tell you what they need before offering a policy.
Title indemnity insurance is commonly used where there's a relatively minor title defect, but like most insurance policies they will only be issued if the insurer thinks there's no chance of a claim! In this case the risk would be far too high for them to issue a policy.
The search continues ...