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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be furious at being so openly lied to by a solicitor and confront her about it

107 replies

darbylou · 07/04/2016 16:29

Long time lurker first time poster here.

I'm a first time buyer and I've had an offer accepted on a new build property (small developer) the developer offered to pay for both my mortgage advisor and solicitors fee if I used his chosen ones, a solicitor and an advisor he'd been working with for years and who get things done quickly, I didn't like the idea of this but due to all the expense of moving couldn't really afford to look a gift horse in the mouth, the mortgage advisor is amazing and has everything in hand.

All was going well and I was set to complete tomorrow, I'd contacted the solicitors weeks ago to leave my contact number and introduce myself as the developer had already instructed them, they said they'd get back in touch when they needed anything from me. I received no contact until two days ago when they sent me a corrupted email with 3 files I couldn't open at 5pm. The day after I contacted them and they said they'd a lot of forms for me to complete. I went in filled in all the paperwork and was told completion may be delayed but only by a couple of days and work was well on the way with the case.

I received another call today. It was the solicitors wanting to confirm a few details on the form, when I asked how it was progressing she said 'oh it'll be a good few weeks until exchange then two after that until completion' when I questioned it she tried to deny that we had spoken the day before and then told me she'd received instruction on the 1st and then later on said it was on the 5th. I told her I'd already sorted a landscaper and a plumber and a moving firm and was just about to end my tenancy and she said 'do you really think these things happen overnight, I have a lot of work to do you know, I was only told about you today.'

OP posts:

Isetan · 08/04/2016 08:21

Do you have anything in writing? You really should have a Solicitor because right now your developer does and you don't.

apismalifica · 08/04/2016 11:38

You have my sympathy darbylou, even as an oldtimer with lot's of buying and selling under my belt I have had to be very careful not to be caught out by sellers, buyers, mortgage companies, solicitors and surveyors etc and I keep a very close watch on them now and challenge everything as I go along. You don't know what to expect the first time you buy a property, and it's a hard way to learn if you have no guidance, just put it down to experience and don't feel you need to blame yourself. Most annoying one I had was when a seller agreed for me to send round my surveyor AFTER she had already exchanged contract with a different buyer that I hadn't even known about - obviously a full structural survey was total waste of time and serious money at that point. I do suggest that before you transfer any serious cash to the solicitor you send them a small amount, say £20, and ask for confirmation it arrived so you know it's their real bank account details and that you are not getting scammed (read some awful stories in the pess) and get everything in writing. It really is a horrible process and fraught with pitfalls, solicitors can be pretty useless sometimes, unless chased, and it's particularly annoying if you have given notice to your landlord already on the basis of a completion date. Hope it goes well, and once you finally get the keys do not dwell on the negatives or let the problems and delays stop you from enjoying your new home!

Mappcat · 08/04/2016 12:07

Just to fling in my ten pence worth. I complained to the Managing Partner of a firm about one of the conveyancing solicitors that was handling my move very badly (it was near to completion too). Slowed everything down massively as it will be considered to be an official complaint, all sorts of Law Society checks and balances need to be dealt with then. The service I got from them didn't improve at all either, I just then had to deal with a really shitty, pissed off person who thought I was trouble.

LassWiTheDelicateAir · 08/04/2016 13:13

I agree OP should check exactly who she is dealing with and that firm and the solicitor is listed on the Law Society's website at the address she is given.

So far as sending them £20 to check bank details no solicitor should ever hand out their bank details to a person who is not formally engaged as a client and has completed the ID and money laundering requirements.

And Bank details should not be sent by email unless encrypted.

So far as a deposit, this is pretty much unheard of in Scotland , except possibly for very expensive houses and even then only if part of say a farm or estate. I suppose that's why we don't have all the hassle about delaying exchanging contracts. You can have a binding contract weeks or months before completion but you don't pay anything until the completion date.

LassWiTheDelicateAir · 08/04/2016 13:20

Just didn't want to see "and now I find out she's not even a qualified solicitor" type post

In all probability the person probably is a legal exec or paralegal, and nothing wrong with that, but everything else about letter of engagement, ID, money laundering applies.

The legal exec/ paralegal should identify the partner within the firm she reports to as that person is "the solicitor" for the client relationship.

baggyleggings · 08/04/2016 15:19

I was in exactly the same position when buying a new build. Incompetence of a legal assistant was set to put us back by weeks when we were already having to stay with PILs due to delays (complete fucking nightmare, but that's another story). She was really condescending and kept quoting acronyms of various procedures which needed to be completed before we moved but I smelt BS. In the end I kicked up a huge fuss and was phoned by the named partner of the firm who looked into it, kicked her arse and got us moving.

Buying a new build was the single most stressful thing I've ever done but, 6 months down the line, I love this house.

Good luck with the move.

treaclesoda · 08/04/2016 15:49

No, I didn't have a 100% mortgage. But it wasn't even that we negotiated with the seller, we just were never asked for a deposit at all. We paid our deposit to the solicitor on the day the bank released the mortgage money.

treaclesoda · 08/04/2016 15:53

Also I used to work in a mortgage provider and even when we did 100% mortgages for customers we never paid a deposit in advance of the final drawdown or anything. The whole amount of money was just released a couple of days before the house move.

Postchildrenpregranny · 08/04/2016 16:47

But YOU have to instruct the solicitor surely, not the developer? and I appreciate you are a FTB but surely you know that you exchange (usually a minimum two weeks before if you are drawing down a mortgage) before completion ? You can exchange/complete the same day but its unusual and solicitors usually charge more .

Postchildrenpregranny · 08/04/2016 16:58

Although it's technically possible to exchange and complete on the same day, I've never known it happen and if you are buying with a mortgage, the mortgage company requires 7 days between exchange and completion to make the funds available.

Sorry, that's complete shite.

it isn't complete shite . That's exactly what my DD was told She has just completed on a property purchase

lorelei9here · 08/04/2016 17:20

Post, it's normal practice but I did them on the same day with a mortgage. It can be done. It will probably depend on the situation and I think they much prefer that people have time inbetween but obviously I did it (years ago), OP is doing it, so it still happens.

Rangirl · 08/04/2016 17:27

I would ask for a synopsis of what has been done to date and what still has to be done with timescales

FuckSanta · 08/04/2016 17:44

it isn't complete shite . That's exactly what my DD was told She has just completed on a property purchase

So because A person told another person it must be a universal truth? It's shite. Same day exchange and complete happens hundreds of times a day. It's risky, it's not advisable, but it happens and I'm not aware of a single mortgage company that will refuse point blank to do it.

So it's shite.

baggyleggings · 08/04/2016 17:47

We exchanged and completed on same day on sale of our last house. Not that uncommon.

CotswoldStrife · 08/04/2016 18:30

I would check the terms of your mortgage, ours certainly stated that they required 5 days notice to draw down the balance. So you would need to know a likely date in advance or ask/prepare them to do something different to their usual procedure. Perhaps your mortgage company was different, it would be nicer to say that than insult other posters, FS.

OP, I hope things run smoothly from here to completion. I think a lot of conveyancers have been busy trying to push through before a recent 31st March deadline so anything not required to go through that date probably wasn't looked at until last week! I'm sure you'll be taking in the reams of paperwork shortly to prove your identity and your deposit (and the paperwork we needed to provide just to prove where we'd got the deposit from was a surprise to us as well). Good luck, I hope you're in your new home very soon

PegsPigs · 08/04/2016 19:02

Postchildrenpregranny

I've done it twice. In England. One leasehold, one freehold. Not charged more either. Just the way things fell.

dillydotty · 08/04/2016 19:38

I used to be a "preferred conveyancer" a while ago. There is nothing dodgy about it. You go through everything to do with the development to make sure all is in order. If you search on the development as a whole you can get away with one lot of searches every 3 months and they can be used for any of the plots. They will need a deposit from you and they should have sent you a full property report. Have you had the official mortgage offer yet? That is what normally slows things up.

FuckSanta · 08/04/2016 21:25

ours certainly stated that they required 5 days notice to draw down the balance

No reason that can't happen with exchange and completion happening on the same day.

dillydotty · 08/04/2016 21:46

Exchange and completion on the same day us possible but it depends on the lender. The time it takes down to draw down the funds very considerably

hellinabreadbasket · 08/04/2016 21:59

Sorry but I think You're very confused. Also, although the developer is paying your 'solicitor fees' you will still need to pay for things like searches etc, so if solicitors are not in funds, they would not have started any work. It's quite normal for a developer to suggest a solicitor, and tbf it's actually easier as they have already raised the enquies etc on the new development.

Original poster

darbylou · 08/04/2016 22:09

I've already had to official mortgage offer and the homebuyer report was done as additional when the valuation took place for the mortgage.

I've been in touch again today and apparently the delay has been caused by a mixture of things, spoken to the boss today, they've admitted that they'd been instructed by me weeks ago and agreed that we'd be fine to complete on the 8th. However due to trying to get things ready for the 1st April cut off for other clients and me not chasing as I should have, mine has been swept to the back of the pile until it was picked up on the 4th, I said that I was angry that she'd lied to me twice about when she'd been instructed and how slow things have progressed and I have received an apology. They also offered to change who was dealing with my case which I'm happy about. It was conveyancer's day off today but I'll be phoning on Monday to find out where we're at and I'll be emailing regularly to chase things up.

The developer has also agreed that my garden work can start before I move in so I don't lose my deposit and has told me he plans to use a different conveyancer for the next buyers as he is really unhappy with them as well.

OP posts:

LassWiTheDelicateAir · 08/04/2016 22:52

I am a solicitor. I don't understand from what you have said how you have become a client of this firm.

Have you been asked to provide proof of identity for money laundering requirements?

Have they sent you a letter of engagement?

Original poster

darbylou · 08/04/2016 23:03

Lass, It's a firm the developer had used previously and offered and incentive for using it. When I said I would use them he passed along my details to them and the day after so they knew that he was paying. I then contacted them to give them instructions, when I did I was told 'oh darbylou yes you're one of Xs aren't you,' and told me that they were progressing with everything and would be in touch.
I have provided proof of identity and received the letter of engagement.

OP posts:

Original poster

darbylou · 08/04/2016 23:03

OP posts:

TinklyLittleLaugh · 09/04/2016 01:49

OP, don't pay for work on a property that you don't even own, that is madness. Loads of things could happen that mean the sale falls through.

You need to get your search and have a look at that for a start, it will tell you if they are planning to build a dirty great factory next to your house, that sort of thing.

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