As part of our Factoring debt recovery process, if payment has not been made to your account following contact with you, a ‘Notice of Potential Liability’ will be added to your title deeds.
What Is a Notice of Potential Liability (NOPL)?
A Notice of Potential Liability (often called an NOPL) is a formal legal notice that can be registered against a property in Scotland. It is used by owners, housing associations, or factors to warn that money is owed, or will soon be owed, for common work or repairs to a building such as a tenement.
The notice is registered with the Registers of Scotland and protects the interests of the other owners in the block by helping to ensure everyone pays their share of common repairs.
Why Would We Register a NOPL?
An NOPL is usually registered when:
- Major repairs or maintenance works are planned (such as roof repairs, painting common areas, or fixing structural issues) and the owner is unable to cover their full share of the costs.
- An owner of a flat hasn’t paid their factoring charges, and we want to protect our ability to recover the cost, especially if the flat is sold before the debt is paid.
What Does an NOPL Mean for an Owner?
- The NOPL sits on your property’s title deeds. This means it will show up in a legal search if you try to sell or re-mortgage your property.
- It can make it harder to sell the property unless the debt is cleared, as the debt is with the property not the owner.
- The notice lasts for three years but can be renewed.
- The notice can be removed once the debt is paid.
- It will not affect your credit score, however, it can make re-mortgaging or borrowing on your property more difficult.
- The cost of registering the notice (a small legal fee) will be added to your account.
- Once you pay your share in full, the Association will arrange for the NOPL to be discharged (removed from the title deeds).
Further advice about NOPLs can be found at Under One Roof.