Equitable charge removal

Hi. I am the executor for my late sisters 'estate' which included a house which I had paid off mortgages and utility charges over many years etc.  The property has been going through sale (via estate agents and conveyancing solicitors) and after nearly 6 months of frustration the buyers solicitor identified an EQUITABLE CHARGE on the property related to an incident caused by my late sisters (then) partner (deceased over 10 years ago) that I was not aware of.
Once identified ... back in February 2025 I paid off the charge to the claimants solicitor expecting to have the charge removed via a fast track request to Land Registry. Despite the full payment, and the completion of the discharge agreement by the claimant, the solicitor claims they incorrectly submitted the wrong discharge notice and subsequently re-submitted the "corrected" forms but after 2 months and many many attempts by myself and my conveyancing solicitor .... we are failing to get responses from either telephone (switches to answerphone and messages are not being responded to) or email which are NOT being answered.

How can I get a action or status of the Equity Charge discharge directly from Land Registry so the house sale completion can be executed or alternate legal action pursued?  I have already provided the HM Government Guidance on expediting the discharge back to the beneficiary's solicitor but as I cannot get through directly by phone (only able to leave answerphone requests)  and e-mails are not responded to ... how can I get the Equitable Charge status update?

Hi Michael - what's the title number for the property?

Title number is AV223847. I hope you can help.
Are you part of the Land Registry Team??

Michael - it is generally only HMLR who reply to any threads/posts on the forum. I am part of HMLR, yes

Michael - an application was received on 3rd April and it is currently waiting to be processed. That's unlikely to be for a few months as we have a backlog of this type of application. I will flag it with the casework team and ask them to fast-track it.
Everything then depends on it being in order - if it is then it can be processed quickly. If it's not and we need more from the applicant then the timescale will again be stretched
AV223847

Michael - just to let you know that the case has been started but it's incomplete as they have not provided the required application form. We contacted them on the 3rd April and await their reply
AV223847

Adam. Thank goodness you are there and helping me.
The solicitor acting on behalf of the claimant is still not directly responding to my calls or emails but an earlier week of 14 April office contact advised that the replacement/correct  forms had already been submitted to Land Registry!!!!
I have now asked for both copies and confirmation of form they claim were sent and date (as I assume this would be electronically but Proof of postage if sent by Snail Mail - Royal Mail).
I have stressed the urgency and will pursue this again tomorrow during business hours in the hope I can get some form of confirmation. Unfortunately I actually live the opposite side of the country (320+ mile round trip) to the Equitable Charge solicitor and property location  (that is less than 2 miles away  from their office). Otherwise I would be making direct visits (and may still need to do this depending if I get answers).

Adam ... Once again  ... thank goodness you are there and responding to my HMLR forum chase.
Michael

Hi Michael - I'll flag it with the casework team as it appears that they may well have replied by letter dated 28th April and that's now with the case. As it was posted it has only just shown up. I'll post again once I know more
AV223847

Adam. I have (finally) been able to speak to the solicitors practice responsible for executing the removal of the equitable charge from the thread above.
Thank you again for your help.
The Practicing Partner has now advised that the additional document requested by HMLR was actually posted earlier this week ... not multiple weeks ago as they previously stated
You have the Property Ref (provided above) and the solicitors advised me that they will make further contact with LR and confirm that all settlements of the Equity Charge took place in February and they accept reponsibility for the delays and acknowledge that this E C removal is time critical as it has been holding up sale completion for over 2 months. and they will be asking for Land Registry to fast track completion as a matter of urgency.

Any additional internal action of file processing inside HMLR you can provide would be really appreciated to avoid the sale falling through after 6 months of paper chasing.

Thank you in advance  ... Michael
 

Michael - the application has been reviewed again and the conveyancer contacted to obtain more information. You'll need to contact them to confirm and to clarify how long they might take to respond
AV223847

Adam. Many thanks once again. This is getting really desperate.
I will contact the solicitor responsible for executing the removal of the Equitable Charge ... AGAIN!!
My solicitor responsible for the conveyancing has indicated they cannot find any further indication the Equitable Charge has been removed.
Appreciate your updating on the forum.  thank goodness you are on the case.
Michael

Hi Adam. Are you able to advise me if the requested updated information in connection with the Equitable Charge removal has all been received from the acting solicitors or if information is still awaited.  This is a very time sensitive issue and the buyer has run out of patience regarding the delays for the property completion (already over 6 months) with the likelihood of pulling out. I have been onto both the conveyancing team and the sales team and they advise they cannot take action until the equitable Charge Solicitor and Land registry confirm the Charge Removal has been officially confirmed. Really desperate now!!!
Please advise what I need to do.   Many thanks.

Michael

Hi Michael - we are still waiting for a response from the applicant (Gordon Lowe & Co). Until they respond we can't complete the application and update the register 
AV223847

Adam.  Many thanks. The solicitor assured me all documents were sent by mail on 28 April. What is the timeframe to record and lodge the forms onto the Land Registry database?

Would it help to progress this application if I sent you copies of what the solicitors claim they have already provided?/

Getting desperate!!!

Michael

Michael - they did respond as you mention but we contacted them again on the 6th May to explain what's still required. They have yet to respond and how quickly they do is largely up to them
We will remind them in June but hopefully they will respond before then 
AV223847

Attn Adam Hookway. The solicitors AGAIN advise me that all documents have been resent. Can you advise if LR have now received and actioned the docs. The solicitor claim the further updated docs were sent 1st class 2 weeks ago despite my requesting they ensure proof of sending.
Hope you can help. I think that the buyer may not go forward if delayed beyond the end of this month! They have already waited since Sept last year.
Michael

Michael - the application was completed and the register updated late yesterday. Confirmation has been issued to the conveyancer and the updated information is available online
AV223847