Joint ownership Legal rights

[Henrietta]

When I was young, my parents bought a house with an embargo on it. Previous sellers had put the embargo on to stop any of the garden being sold without their permission. When my father wanted to sell part of it for a building plot, the previous sellers wanted half the price of the plot which at that time was £1,000. After they had £500, it was probably not really worth it. I think the embargo in this case has to be written in the deeds of the property, and if they are not already there, they can't be put there. If the neighbour has not owned the property, then how could she have placed an embargo on it?

[Cassie]

Thanks everyone for your feedback, it does seem as though the neighbor, her brother and her solicitor were blagging it and just trying to intimidate me with threats and ultimatums as Exeldama previously said smoke and mirrors, bully boy tactics so far it has all been hot air and threats, and as some of you have said it would have had to be written into the Deeds, which it wasn't, I'll keep you posted.

[Dennis]

Embargo - see above

Covenant - undertaking/obligation written into a Deed (which only lawyers can prepare - Solicitors Act 1974) The Deed usually spells out the consequences of breaking the covenant, e.g. leases for leasehold houses commonly require the leaseholder to get permission from the freeholder before making alterations to the property, with failure to do so technically terminating the lease.

Injunction - order granted by the Court restraining one party from behaviour affecting another party. Can be temporary or permanent. Not granted just because the aggrieved party asks nicely.

Sounds as though the neighbour/solicitor was threatening option three.

[SimonFisher]

I'll keep you posted.

Cassie, just wondering what happened with your joint-ownership problems?