Jen,(posted 8017 days ago)Regarding the necessary wording on your title deeds. I have recently received a very interesting article from Lee written by a barrister (Philip Rossdale). My interpretation of it(but I'm no legal expert) is the following:
1)that since 1783 up until 26th September 1989 (or prior to 1995?)the deposit of title deeds or subsequent land certificate,by a debtor with his creditor creates an equitable security;whether accompanied by the debtor's writing or not. This I take to mean that it is classed as a Specialty? Perhaps someone else can confirm it means this. 2) On the 27th September 1989 when the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act came into force many solicitors thought such a deposit still created an equitable security. However, after a Court of Appeal decision "United Bank of Kuwait v Sahib 1996" it was held that the deposit of a land certificate or title deeds as security without a writing signed by both parties complying with s2 of the 1989 Act may enable such individuals to say that the security is invalid and that in the case of a an insolvent estate,there would only be an unsecured debt. Which I take to mean that it isn't a Specialty! But I'm no expert, any comments? I have passed the article on to Sue Edwards at NACAB and asked her a number of questions on this , and for her evaluation of it.If I hear anything more I'll post it here. If you want to see the details of the case you can find it on "www.macdonald.butterworths.co.uk". If you want a copy of the article by Philip Rossdale ask me.
Mark.