Surely it is about time the Land Registry devised a scheme to deal with slow or incompetent mortgagees who fail to discharge their registered interest following payment of redemption monies.

The Registry is quick enough to refuse to process an application by a transferee and then to cancel it if a charge has not been vacated. Trouble and expense with fresh searches and renewed applications etc are caused as a result.

However, the Registry’s zeal does not extend to dealing with the mortgagee causing the problem. Why not? It would be easy enough for the Registry to have a system for giving notice to a mortgagee that their charge would be vacated unless able to confirm within say 14 days that the redemption monies had not been paid.

Such a system would force the mortgagee to speed up their processes and so avoid receiving such notices from the Registry.

BM Lawler, Moore Brown & Dixon, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire