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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Would I be unreasonable to email my solicitor?

21 replies

TeapotsInJune · 15/08/2012 11:50

We are moving house (trying to.) Here is the situation. We are selling our house to a buyer but the lady we are selling from is not buying (has moved in with boyfriend.)

We are cash buyers and instructed solicitors to act on our behalf towards the end of June. The initial moving date was proposed as August 10 but it soon became clear that was "no way." I was a bit upset at this because apart from the fact I wanted to have the summer holidays to get settled (I am a teacher) we are making a (very small!) profit on selling our house and we're in dire financial matters just now (just checked bank balance and have £15 to last 2 weeks )

My solicitors emailed last week to ask that I proposed a moving date and I suggested August 30, which is the last day of the summer holidays for us, as DD has a hospital appointment on August 31 which I don't want to have to cancel.

Absolute silence for a week and I emailed this morning to ask if there was any further progress. Nothing.

I'm very upset, as I know it isn't going to go through in time, which means I'll have to take an unpaid day from work which I can't afford, move all on my own as DH goes away for work at the end of August as well not to mention the fact we're moving because my commuting costs are horrific at the moment and every day costs me £20 in fuel! Even one week after I start back at school would cost around £100 in petrol plus about £150 loss of a day's pay

I really want to send an angry email to them but is this just likely to make them annoyed and even slower? I've tried to stay polite but I'm so upset and angry and stressed out. I was so looking forward to moving this summer and I can't!

Thanks.

OP posts:

Shmumty · 15/08/2012 12:01

Why not call them and ask what's up?

vj32 · 15/08/2012 12:03

Why haven't you been calling them every day?

MaryBS · 15/08/2012 12:04

I would phone them as well. Are you in contact with the others in the chain? Maybe give them a call, see if this date was agreed with them too? Cheaper than getting your solicitor to call their solicitor

Original poster

TeapotsInJune · 15/08/2012 12:07

I have been calling, but I just keep being given the brush off. All I can do is keep ringing and keep asking but they have this tone to their voices that just make you feel like the most ignorant being alive!

OP posts:

EnglishGirlApproximately · 15/08/2012 12:08

Do you think the hold up is because of the solicitor or because of the seller?

Pandemoniaa · 15/08/2012 12:09

Who is holding the chain up? That's what I'd want to know and no, YANBU in chasing up progress.

Original poster

TeapotsInJune · 15/08/2012 12:09

I haven't a clue. I know the lady I am buying from is desperate for the sale to go through quickly. I think the delay may be because of my buyer but not this much delay surely - ten weeks for a cash sale seems ridiculous. I'm getting flashbacks to buying my first house which took four bloody months!!

OP posts:

mollymole · 15/08/2012 12:13

Can you just turn up at the solicitors office and say that you need an answer, today, to your questions. That you have telephone and e -mailed but had no
progressive response.

Original poster

TeapotsInJune · 15/08/2012 12:22

Unfortunately not - it's one of those online ones a good 250 miles away Thank you though. I just tried to ring but my solicitor was 'on the other line' - I'll try again in 10 minues

OP posts:

suburbandweller · 15/08/2012 14:05

If you're being fobbed off with the suggestion of your solicitor being on the other line, you have a couple of options other than waiting to be called back. The best one I've used is to say that you'll hold until they become free. Obviously you have to think of your phone bill, but you'd be amazed at how quickly people suddenly become available sometimes. Alternatively, why don't you ask to be put through to someone else who can help you - it really is ok to demand that someone speaks to you. Try to get someone to take responsibility for getting your questions answered. And really don't worry about chasing your solicitor, they are being paid by you after all!

Baskets45 · 15/08/2012 14:11

What's unreasonable? Your lawyer will happily take a huge cut when/if house move goes through, they need to work for the money. Phone/email every day till they do their job/ find another solicitor/house. YANBU to get them to do their job - accept some lawyersare lazy bastards or take on more work than they/their firm can cope with. You are paying for a service though.

BobbiFleckman · 15/08/2012 14:12

ask for their supervising partner or the person in charge of your file - their name should be on teh client care letter you got at the beginning as should the complaints policy.
Hold until they answer.
simultaneously get hold of all the estate agents in the chain and make them worry about their commission so they also get on the phone and start pushing this forward.
Unfortunately conveyancing really is one of those services where you get what you pay for and the person you're trying to get hold of is probably dealing with 100 similar transactions on their own behalf and for all their colleagues who are on holiday in August. no comfort to you, but their margins on the work are so low that they simply can't justify doing a really polished job. (i am of course prepared for 1000 online conveyancers to come and flame me. If you are tempted, get back to your files, you might be the one holding this up!)

LIZS · 15/08/2012 14:14

Don't panic, it's only 15th , plenty of time until 30th yet. If they are an online firm then chances are there are several people who could help you so you don't have to hold on for one in particular.

wimblehorse · 15/08/2012 14:28

If you are cash buyers, then you don't need to sell your house to be able to buy. So if the person you are buying from is desperate to move too they should be able to turn around that part of the chain, and then come back to sell your property later if needs be.
Although not sure how you get to be a cash buyer and only have £15 to last 2 weeks

maddening · 15/08/2012 14:41

do you have contact details for the seller? They might be more forthcoming than agents

TheoriginalMrsDarcy · 15/08/2012 14:46

I just want to say, my DH and I are in exactly the same boat as you. We are cash buyers and the lady of the house we are buying from is selling hers to buy a smaller house. There is no other chain involved, only three parties as the other sellers are moving into a parental home and can move anytime. We instructed Solicitors at the end of June and to date, we still haven't got a completion date. We've already stipulated we can't be bothered with exchange and completion on different dates, as it will only drag things out longer.

I can only assume part of the delay is because the solicitors have been on holiday/taking annual leave, esp as its the summer hols. Today, I've stepped it up a bit and have emailed them on various occasions thoughout the day, giving specific instructions to my solicitors to telephone the sellers solicitors ( and not to write another ruddy letter) and find out exactly where we are at. It's the not knowing which is sooo annoying.

I would suggest you telephone them today, follow it up by email if they don't pick up the phone and ask for an update.

HedgeHogGroup · 15/08/2012 16:19

You won't lose a days pay for moving - you're entitled to a paid days leave for moving house.

CommaChameleon · 15/08/2012 16:32

When you say you are cash buyers, what exactly do you mean?

Do you have the money to pay for your new house sitting waiting in the bank?

Or are you waiting the money from your sale but needing no further funds, like a mortgage or loan etc to help pay for your new house?

OrangeClub · 15/08/2012 16:53

Are you by any chance using the likes of Countywide, who are conveyancers and not solicitors?

If so then you can't even complain to the Law Society or the SRA as they are not a firm of solicitors.

Anyway, I would phone and stay on the phone until I spoke to someone who could tell me the progression of the chain. For example is your buyer having a mortgage? Has their solicitor received the mortgage offer and the results of the searches. You are a cash purchaser but have you undertaken searches on the property that you are buying? If so are the results of those searches back in?

Phone them and do not be fobbed off until you receive a chain update. Failing this phone your Estate Agent and ask them to check the chain for you. The Estate Agent will want to be paid and they don't get paid until completion so they have a vested interest in finding out what is going on.

Good luck

eurochick · 15/08/2012 17:05

Keep phoning and chasing.

Tell everyone - solicitor, estate agent, other people in chain - that unless it happens by 30 August, you will have to pull out. Once people see the prospect of the sale falling through/commission going down the drain/fees being lost, they will extract their thumb from their unmentionables and get on with it.

BoneyBackJefferson · 15/08/2012 17:19

In England you get a paid day off for moving.

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