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Residential conveyancing - jargon buster C

If you are looking for a conveyancing solicitor to handle a residential house sale, house purchase or a re-mortgage then please contact us on 01616 966 229 for a free, no obligation initial chat with one of our legal advisors, or request more information via our contact form.

C

Caution: An entry in the Land Registry (for registered land), which operates to protect a minor interest in the land. When a caution is registered, the proprietor cannot carry out dealings with the land without the cautioner being notified.

Certificate of Value:  A certificate contained in a deed, confirming that the consideration or purchase price does not exceed the limit above which the buyer must pay Stamp Duty.
 
Certified Copy: A copy of a deed or document that is certified as being a true copy of the original by the lawyer who is holding it. An example of this wording used is:
“We hereby certify this to be a true copy of the original.
Dated this……day of……2007."
 
Signed: ……………(lawyer)
Name: ……………..(firm’s name)
Address: …………..(firm’s address)
 
Chaps: (Clearing House Automatic Payment System): Provides a same day guaranteed Sterling electronic credit transfer service within the UK. The system allows for the payment of any amount to be transmitted from one bank to another via a computer system. The sending bank enters instruction to make the transfer and notifies the receiving branch of the transfer via computer.
 
Charge: A financial debt or liability affecting the property.
 
Chargee: The name given to someone who has the benefit of a charge over the property (e.g. a mortgage lender).
 
Chargor:  A company or person who grants a charge or right in security or in favour of some other person (e.g. a borrower).
 
Chattels: Items of personal property, such as furniture and moveable goods. This is more commonly referred to as “fixtures and fittings”.
 
Companies Registry: An official organisation where various company documents are available for public inspection.
 
Company Search: A search carried out against a company that is registered with Companies House. (i.e. A limited Company) to find out a variety of information, including whether there are any floating charges which the company will need to clear from the title of the property the customer is buying.
 
Completion: Finalising the purchase or sale of a property. The completion date is the date when the bulk of the purchase price is paid, the buyer received the keys, and the deeds are handed over.
 
Conflict of Interest: The situation where a lawyer’s personal interests conflict with those of the customer; or where the interests of one customer conflict with the interests of another. A lawyer cannot continue to act in a case where a conflict of interests arises.  
 
Contract: A legally binding agreement. This is the agreement between the buyer and the seller which sets out the terms of what has been agreed, such as full description of the property and surrounding land included in the sale, the price agreed, the full names of the seller and buyer, and will incorporate the fixtures, fittings and contents questionnaire referred to above together with details of what happens if things go wrong to protect both the seller and the buyer.
 
Contract Race: A contract race arises when a seller decides to sell to more than one buyer at a time, with a view to exchanging contracts with whichever buyer is ready first. There are strict rules laid down which must be followed where a contract race exists. 
 
Consideration: This is another word for the amount of the purchase price or sale price being paid. It is often referred to as “consideration” in a transfer deed or conveyance.
 
Conveyance: The document that transfers the ownership of freehold land from a seller to a buyer. It is equivalent to a Transfer but is only used in unregistered land.
 
Conveyancing: This is the transfer of the legal title to land and property from one person’s name to another.
 
Co-ownership: The situation where two or more people own the same parcel of land. Nowadays, the phrase usually refers to a joint tenancy or a tenancy in common.  
 
CLC: Council for Licensed conveyancers: The regulatory body for Licensed Conveyancers.
 
Covenant: An agreement or promise contained in a deed or document by which one party binds himself to do or not to do something. Covenants can be positive or negative by the nature (e.g. a positive covenant would be to keep the garden in a neat and tidy condition and a negative covenant would be not to keep pigs or poultry on the land.
 
Covenantor: The party who gives a covenant, so carries the burden of the covenant.