Or is my solicitor not doing everything she can?

[halloumihalloumi]

House move related.
Long story - 9 months waiting. 2 chains have collapsed. Husband signed all documents before he deployed in Jan. but that chain collapsed. Husband still deployed. We have a new buyer who wanted to exchange and complete in a week.

All good. Bank have assured mortgage funds will be in place.

But now husband needs to sign new deeds and contract. So, here is where it looks like it will all fall apart and I need some advice.
Husband has signed and scanned it in and emailed it back. But apparently that isn't good enough as they need an original signature on the document but we are exchanging and completing on Friday so surely they email over the doc anyway and put the original in the mail. So what bloody difference does it actually make?

Original is en route and I am tracking but it hasn't landed back in the Uk as yet.

Buyer solicitor said they won't proceed without the original on Friday. But again, the other solicitor is at the other end of the country so why does it ducking matter if it is the original or not.

I feel like my solicitor is just rolling over and saying 'nothing' she can do.....

I think that your solicitor has to confirm that they have the original document in front of them before exchange can go ahead.

Sometimes a fax signature is legally binding when an email can’t be used. Have you explored that as an option?

But what do we mean by original document? The one they sent me was just printed and sent. The one husband has signed was just printed and re-scanned. It seems we are getting twisted in knots over the word 'original'. Just boggles my mind to be honest

It’s the original signature that’s important, not the contract.

But the buyers solicitor doesn't see the original signature on Friday. So why does it matter if it was signed and scanned and emailed?

For some purposes a "wet ink" signature is required and there's no way around it. You should be able to get a document fed ex'd to the UK by Friday though. I managed get a document from California to the UK within 48 hours a few weeks ago. It'll cost though.

Because your solicitor has to confirm that they have it.

He is in Bahrain and only has access to tbe facilities in the US and uK base. No fed ex unfortunately

He sent by recorded delivery and sent it Sunday which is a work day in Bahrain. So hopefully it is on a plane today

Wet signature needs to be seen by your solicitor so they can say they have seen it. Anyone could tweak a scanned document to have his signature on.

A wet signature is needed. My DDs vendor is in Europe and has had to sign and send all the documents required by post. Thankfully not as complicated as your situation!

But the buyers solicitor doesn't see the original signature on Friday. So why does it matter if it was signed and scanned and emailed?

Because your solicitor needs to be able to say that they have the original in their possession ready to send over. If they took a chance and relied on the scanned signature, crossing fingers that the original was on the way, and your DH never sent the original and tried to pull out, they'd be in big, career-ending trouble.

So after some more research it seems the government has said that they can accept electronic signature on deed transfer.

Mega pissed off that my crap solicitor hasn't already said or suggested this.

But this is a contract, not a deed transfer. And it's up to the purchaser's solicitor what they will accept, ultimately.

It's the deed transfer that they are insisting not the contract.

OP, we moved house a few weeks ago and we never signed anything. We authorised our solicitor to sign them for us. Can you do this?

Tried asking her that but she said no, that [name removed] would have had to give her PoA

post edited by MNHQ to remove RL name

Ah, sorry, just saw your update. Yeah, our solicitor did the contract but we did have to do the deed transfer.

So it seems she can sign the contact on his behalf. And then we could do the deed by electronic signature.

I just feel she should be knowing these things and getting them done. She has added £ 1.5k to tbe costs for rushing it through this week.

Wont proceed doesn’t mean it’s over it means she can’t exchange without the original. You will have to wait for the original to exchange it just delays it doesn’t mean it’s over.

Oh yeah when I sold my house my solicitor signed on mine and my husbands behalf I didn’t sign the papers.

The buyer said it's this Friday or never. It is a company making the purchase and I think it might have something to do with end of tax year.

(Assuming military deployment)

Try quoting the military covenant to them. The government has agreed that service personnel should not be discriminated against because they are in the service. As the government has ordered him to deploy and there is no means by which he can return, I would expect your solicitor to be exploring all other options. And if she doesn't that will cause discrimination.

Might not work, but worth a try.

Buying a house when your DH is deployed is a nightmare - we did it once and luckily all the documents arrived on time from DH. Really hope your buyer gives you a little bit more time!

As an aside, my DH is in the same place at the moment. Wonder if they know each other?! 🤔

Get your husband to give you power of attorney. Solicitor is negligent for not getting it if they knew your husband was going to be deployed.