Happy Things/Thoughts/Videos/Jokes

[GrumpyGranddad]

Shameless plug.
My brother in law, Michael Crompton, is a writer (mostly for TV). Does a lot of the Silent Witness series (the last two were him). Anyway, one of his other works ‘Code of a killer’ is being repeated and is on BBC1 tonight. I seem to remember it being quite good.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Shameless plug.
My brother in law, Michael Crompton, is a writer (mostly for TV). Does a lot of the Silent Witness series (the last two were him). Anyway, one of his other works ‘Code of a killer’ is being repeated and is on BBC1 tonight. I seem to remember it being quite good.

Sorry ITV + 9pm not BBC.

 

[SimonB]

Motorist fined after CCTV confuses his number plate with woman’s T-shirt​

Amusing to find that the sophisticated CCTV monitoring equipment misread a Tee shirt
for a number plate

Motorist fined after CCTV confuses his number plate with woman’s T-shirt

David Knight told to pay £90 after KN19TER registration is mixed up with pedestrian’s ‘Knitter’ top 120 miles away

www.theguardian.com

 

[Velma's Dad]

Motorist fined after CCTV confuses his number plate with woman’s T-shirt​

Amusing to find that the sophisticated CCTV monitoring equipment misread a Tee shirt
for a number plate

Motorist fined after CCTV confuses his number plate with woman’s T-shirt

David Knight told to pay £90 after KN19TER registration is mixed up with pedestrian’s ‘Knitter’ top 120 miles away

www.theguardian.com

I think they got him bang to rights. What if it'd been the other way round and that poor t-shirt lady had got a FPN for jogging at 51 mph in the A3 contraflow?

 

[Amarillo]

You can grow concrete.

 

[Velma's Dad]

You can grow concrete.

Fantastic. Just shows what a skilled, informed and well-prepared interviewer, without any personal bias or agenda, can get out of an interviewee. Must watch more of this guy.

I'm off to water my patio.

 

[Amarillo]

Trick or treat?

Chocolate covered sprouts.

 

[sidepod]

 

[Ch1pbutty]

 

[willwander]

 

[Amarillo]

Whole house stolen.

Luton man left shocked as his house is ‘stolen’ - BBC News

A BBC investigation finds Mike Hall's identity was stolen and used to sell his house.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Vagophile]

This is not the first case of house theft. Some quite high value property stolen by sophisticated con artists over the years.

 

[andyinluton]

Whole house stolen.

Luton man left shocked as his house is ‘stolen’ - BBC News

A BBC investigation finds Mike Hall's identity was stolen and used to sell his house.

www.bbc.co.uk

I would be amazed if everyone involved including the solicitor didn’t know what was going on. It changed hands for about half the market price. The dodgy solicitors round here have to make their money somehow now all their cash for crash clients have been rumbled.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

bit late, but will still post:

 

[Ting Tong]

 

[GrahamB]

I would be amazed if everyone involved including the solicitor didn’t know what was going on. It changed hands for about half the market price. The dodgy solicitors round here have to make their money somehow now all their cash for crash clients have been rumbled.

Yes I agree it doesn’t add up. It seems highly dubious that the buyer bought the property without access to view it?

 

[Amarillo]

Yes I agree it doesn’t add up. It seems highly dubious that the buyer bought the property without access to view it?

I suffered a similar crime, albeit on a far smaller scale.

I have 1 of 27 shares in a freehold company owning a block of 30 flats.

99 year leases were issued in 1960 to each of the 30 flats, the year they were built.

In 1999 27 leaseholders bought the freehold of the block, and we pay a management company to run our affairs.

Last year the management company extended two of the three remaining original 99 year leases (each with 39 years remaining) to 999 years, free of charge. Each of the new leases must have been worth in excess of £30,000. The solicitors dealing with the transactions must have known something was amiss.

 

[GrahamB]

I suffered a similar crime, albeit on a far smaller scale.

I have 1 of 27 shares in a freehold company owning a block of 30 flats.

99 year leases were issued in 1960 to each of the 30 flats, the year they were built.

In 1999 27 leaseholders bought the freehold of the block, and we pay a management company to run our affairs.

Last year the management company extended two of the three remaining original 99 year leases (each with 39 years remaining) to 999 years, free of charge. Each of the new leases must have been worth in excess of £30,000. The solicitors dealing with the transactions must have known something was amiss.

Equally shocking. In each case the implication is that the beneficiaries have been complicit in the fraud. Hard to understand how it stands up to scrutiny though. Did you get compensation from the management company in your case?

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

I suffered a similar crime, albeit on a far smaller scale.

I have 1 of 27 shares in a freehold company owning a block of 30 flats.

99 year leases were issued in 1960 to each of the 30 flats, the year they were built.

In 1999 27 leaseholders bought the freehold of the block, and we pay a management company to run our affairs.

Last year the management company extended two of the three remaining original 99 year leases (each with 39 years remaining) to 999 years, free of charge. Each of the new leases must have been worth in excess of £30,000. The solicitors dealing with the transactions must have known something was amiss.

I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying @Amarillo
I owned 1 of 10 flats, where each flat was leasehold but each owner also had 1 of 10 shares in the freehold. We ran the management company ourselves. A few years ago all but one of the owners extended their lease to 999 years, since mortgage lenders won’t lend against a property with only a short lease remaining. The only cost to each resident was the solicitors charges. The value of the properties did not increase due to longer leases being in place. If the remaining owner decides to extend his lease, it will only cost him a similar amount to what the rest paid.

 

[Amarillo]

I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying @Amarillo
I owned 1 of 10 flats, where each flat was leasehold but each owner also had 1 of 10 shares in the freehold. We ran the management company ourselves. A few years ago all but one of the owners extended their lease to 999 years, since mortgage lenders won’t lend against a property with only a short lease remaining. The only cost to each resident was the solicitors charges. The value of the properties did not increase due to longer leases being in place. If the remaining owner decides to extend his lease, it will only cost him a similar amount to what the rest paid.

I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying @Amarillo
I owned 1 of 10 flats, where each flat was leasehold but each owner also had 1 of 10 shares in the freehold. We ran the management company ourselves. A few years ago all but one of the owners extended their lease to 999 years, since mortgage lenders won’t lend against a property with only a short lease remaining. The only cost to each resident was the solicitors charges. The value of the properties did not increase due to longer leases being in place. If the remaining owner decides to extend his lease, it will only cost him a similar amount to what the rest paid.

When a residential lease has under 55 years remaining the value of the property starts falling dramatically.

27 of our block of 30 come with a share of freehold, which must be sold to subsequent owners. These can, for most purposes, be considered freehold flats. Three of our block of 30 are leasehold.

As an example, one of the leasehold flats, without a share in the freehold, was bought (cash purchase) in 2010 for £120,000 with 45 years remaining on the lease. After extending the lease (for legal fees only) to 999 years the previous owner sold it for £360,000.

Even with the rapid rise in London house prices, this level of profit is absurd.

The suspicion is that someone in the management company took a backhander to expedite the granting of a new 999 year lease for no premium. If not, they acted negligently, and certainly not in the interests of the 27 shareholders.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Moving swiftly back to "happy" things...

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

When a residential lease has under 55 years remaining the value of the property starts falling dramatically.

27 of our block of 30 come with a share of freehold, which must be sold to subsequent owners. These can, for most purposes, be considered freehold flats. Three of our block of 30 are leasehold.

As an example, one of the leasehold flats, without a share in the freehold, was bought (cash purchase) in 2010 for £120,000 with 45 years remaining on the lease. After extending the lease (for legal fees only) to 999 years the previous owner sold it for £360,000.

Even with the rapid rise in London house prices, this level of profit is absurd.

The suspicion is that someone in the management company took a backhander to expedite the granting of a new 999 year lease for no premium. If not, they acted negligently, and certainly not in the interests of the 27 shareholders.

With you now. Didn’t read your post properly.

 

[Mr T]

 

[Mr T]

 

[The Pox]

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go on a camping trip in their brand new California Ocean. (They had ordered it back in 1892).

After eating their dinner around the slide-out table they retire to the upper bed to go to sleep. A few hours later Sherlock wakes up.

“Watson, are you awake?” He asks.

“Yes, sir. What is it?” Answers Watson.

“Look up and tell me what you see.” Asks Holmes.

“I see billions of stars,” says Watson.

“And what does that tell you Watson,” asks Holmes.

“Well,” says Dr Watson, “Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.”

“Why? – What does it tell you, Holmes?”

Holmes is quiet for a moment then says: “It tells me that someone has stolen our Pop Top.”