General A loan offer will generally be framed in such a way as to become a binding contract on acceptance by the borrower. Common law contract rules apply to the loan agreement. When signed, the bank becomes obliged to lend subject to satisfaction of the various preconditions or conditions precedents (cps) within the period stated […]
Representations and Warranties Representations and warranties are promises on the part of the borrower in relation to existing matters. The bank relies on the truth of the representations or warranties in advancing the loan. There are usually representations and warranties in relation to such basic matters as the borrower’s legal capacity, absence of adverse litigation, […]
English Property Law The ownership of land in England and Wales is shown and proved by registration in the Land Registry, rather than by holding and producing deeds. The Land Registry is a Government backed register. Registration of ownership in the Land Registry has been compulsory in the whole of England and Wales since 1990. […]
General A mortgage deed of land in England and Wales is technically a “legal charge” over the borrower’s registered ownership of the land. Strictly, a mortgage deed relates to unregistered title, which would now rarely be encountered in lending in England and Wales. However, the expression “mortgage” deed is more commonly used and we use […]
Overview Priority issues arise where a property is mortgaged to more than one mortgagee. The earlier mortgagee usually has prior entitlement to the proceeds of sale of the security in the event of enforcement. The earlier mortgagee has primary rights to enforce the security. Generally, a lending institution will expect to have a first legal […]
Second Mortgagee’s Right of Redemption A mortgagor’s right to redeem is fundamental. A mortgage can be redeemed at any time up until sale. The cost of repayment and redemption fall on the mortgagor. In some instances, it may be necessary for the mortgagor to give six months’ notice of his intention to redeem. This does […]
Bill of Sale Legislation The Bill of Sales legislation is almost identical in Ireland and England and Wales. The legislation applies when security is created by an individual over moveable items where the secured items remain in the owner’s possession. The security is void unless the Act is complied with. The security document must be […]
General There are various grounds on which a mortgage may be invalidated or reduced in value. In some cases, the risk may arise as a result of certain matters which are covered by the legal due diligence or under the borrower’s solicitor’s certificate of title. In this case, there may be a right of compensation […]
Legal Status of Companies Companies are “legal” persons that can borrow, enter contracts, hold property and grant security in much the same way as an individual can do. However, there are particular Companies Acts rules which may invalidate or affect a security. Generally the lender’s legal advisers should have put in place procedures so that […]