1315trinity wrote:
I do know PT that in Criminal Law, the true 'owner' of property remains such, even if the property is stolen and sold on to an innocent purchaser.
Motor vehicle thefts are rife with such purchases and if the vehicle is recovered it is usually removed from the innocent purchaser and returned to the true owner.
In the case of land though, surely deeds provide proof of ownership? and I would have thought the sale to Manni from the BOI and subsequently to WT would have been handled by a solicitor?
On the other hand, if by some reason the sale does become void we might get the chance to purchase it again at the true price!
Its a massive grey area and often comes down to a judge making a call on whether original owner still retains title or has lost it.
Massively frustrating at company i work for.
As an example we have title to an asset,that has been rented by another party,the other party has "sold" the asset (which he wasn't legally entitled to do).
The asset in a short space of time has passed through 3/4 people and ended up being purchased by an innocent party.
Now you would think the sensible outcome is that the asset is returned to its rightful owner.Very rarely the case,if innocent purchaser convinces/proofs to judge they were a victim we lose title to asset.So even though we were the rightful owners of that £300k asset,we can't get it back and instead have to pursue the original renter who has effectively stolen our property.