Application SF701540

Good Morning

I am in contact with my solicitor, but they are not very responsive and it has now been 2 years since we began the process to purchase our current property, with the land registration being the final part.

Our understanding is that you have been waiting several months for an historical vacating document (discharge) from the Halifax regarding a mortgage dating back over 40 years. But given the age of this charge, it is highly improbable that Halifax will still retain the original paper discharge or have a digital record of it.

So in order to  prevent any further months of delay in this registration process, we would like to move to the alternative procedure of preparing and submitting a statement of truth form ST1 or ST2 to HM land registry. This should set out the evidence that the mortgage has been satisfied (such as the length of time passed without any demand for payment) and confirm that the original discharge document has been lost.

Would this be a viable approach to remove further delays?

Thank you for your help in this matter

Kind Regards

Phil Ralph

Previous thread discussion
https://customerhelp.landregistry.gov.uk/forums/application/0891bf4c-ccce-f011-ad8e-7c1e52668742

Good Morning Phil - sorry to read that your issues remain. 
Statements of truth can be very useful tools but much depends on who gives the statement. In this case it's the lender who is the key player re removal of their legal charge so whilst facts presented by the borrower might help they are very unlikely to provide a complete picture that then enables straight removal of the lender's legal charge 
If you have evidence to confirm that the legal charge was paid off/redeemed and/or the lender confirmed as such in writing then that can assist but ultimately it is invariably evidence from the actual lender themselves that matters here. And if they can produce such evidence they can easily complete a discharge document as well
I imagine, if 40 years on, that you don't have any paperwork re the charge being discharged by the lender
The conveyancer contacted us in mid December to state that they were still pursuing the lender but assume that's not managing to get the necessary evidence 
SF701540

Hello Adam

Thank you for your explanation and help in this matter, I know I Have a very poor conveyancer and so will contact the Lender directly for assistance.

Thanks again.

Kind Regards
Phil