To think the conveyancing solicitor should have passed on this info?

[orchidexplosion]

Background: Selling a probate property. Easy sale, no chain, no mortgage, cash buyer is currently in rented accommodation and wants to move quickly. My solicitor was responsible for 2 months of unecessary delay in drafting the contract at the start, then it took 2 further months for the buyers' searches, so now it is June.

The issue: I found out from my agent 3 weeks ago that my solicitor was sitting on some queries that hadn't been forwarded to me, so I chased, and he eventually sent them to me 10 days ago. They were trivial, so I replied within an hour, but my responses still haven't been sent to the buyer's solicitor, so no progress can be made. Today, I got an urgent call from the agent saying that if we don't meet the completion date next week, the buyer will pull out because their rental agreement ends, and will need to rent a new property. However, I had no idea they had specified a completion date - my solicitor didn't pass that information on to me!

I contacted a director at the firm today, who has told me about staff shortages, sickness etc, etc.

It seems that that my query responses are being deliberately delayed, and the buyer's proposed completion date has been deliberately witheld from me, to delay completion, because they have taken on more work than they can handle.

Aibu to think they are obliged to tell me the requested completion date? If I had known, I would have contacted the director sooner, rather than patiently waiting my turn! But if I lose the sale, it will have major financial and logistical consequences, and it will be the solicitor's fault.

I would make a formal complaint about the standard of service stating all the points you have identified. And I would let the buyer know via that estate agent so they understand it is not you being awkward

That is not acceptable at all. Yes, the housing market is very busy at the moment; almost back to SDLT holiday levels, but that is no excuse for such bad communication.

Could I ask if the property is unregistered or any delay in the Grant of Probate being issued? That may explain a little of the delay at the beginning in getting a draft contract out, but two months is still too long.

Ask to see their complaints procedure. If that doesn’t at least rattle their cage, you will then know what steps to follow. They should have a specific complaints partner you could contact.

I do hope for your sake it is a proper solicitor firm and not a conveyancing factory type place. I don’t need to name names!

Best of luck and I’m so sorry they have made a probate sale so unnecessarily difficult for you.

I would be sorely tempted to sack them and find a decent solicitor

If the sale falls through because your conveyancer has failed to carry out their job properly you should think about bringing a claim against them for any losses. Let them know that you will consider this. If the sale does fall through you should consider engaging another solicitor to advise you in respect of a potential claim. Look for someone with a good reputation, not the person who charges the least amount for their time.

That is why we made sure that we had our sellers details so we could contact them directly if there were delays

Unfortunately this is why you always need to harass your solicitor when buying/selling, as they do have problems with staff being on holiday, being sick, etc., the same as anywhere else does, and even if they employ a locum, all too often they're so bloody useless they might as well not have bothered. I used to work as a legal secretary, and without my constant nagging on behalf of our clients, I feel sure a lot of sales would have fallen through. So many solicitors seem to think that there is no urgency to these things, it really is frustrating. I would contact the partner you spoke to again, and tell them that you don't care about their staffing problems, you care about the problems they will cause to you, if you don't complete what should have been a very straightforward sale on time. Push this partner to take control of the situation, and take personal responsibility for pushing it through for you. Then I would ring him/her every couple of days, to ensure that they are doing the job you're paying for. If all else fails tell them you'll be making a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, and make sure you do. Good luck!!

I agree with the above but please remember, between estate agents and solicitors, estate agents lie the most and they can be very manipulative.

Conveyancing experience here (extensive), and this is something I see a lot!

If the accounts I read about performance of solicitors in house sales/purchases is representative, they join the list of people who have used Covid and the general economy as an excuse for deteriorating service.

Find an alternative solicitor and if you can, set a deadline, preferably very short period, and make it clear the current one loses the business if it is not met.

Could I ask if the property is unregistered or any delay in the Grant of Probate being issued?

No. I had the grant of probate before we put the house in the market. I also had the title deeds and everything else I needed, so there was no excuse for delay at the start.

I chose them because they had good reviews, but it seems that too many other people did the same, and they have more work than they can cope with. They have stopped taking new instructions, but I expect they are prioritising people who shout the loudest, which wasn't me until I found out about the deadline.

One of my neighbours was selling her flat but it was taking so long that the buyer rented it from her until the sale rent through a couple of months later. It did rely on trust that neither will pull out.

Would that be an option for you if the reason the buyer would pull out is because they’d need to find somewhere new to rent? Could even do it below market rate as an incentive for them.

We bought a property. There were 4 of us in a chain and the solicitor we had was even part time. Done and dusted in 2 months. Best service I’ve ever received. Our solicitor did a lot of chasing and we were straight in there with a survey.
mid make a complaint too. It’s unacceptable for that amount of time.

Are they an online conveyancing firm? Initials as in XX Law? I found that they pile the work on their conveyancers, they have too much work to handle efficiently.
Yes, they’ve behaved appallingly.
Get the head honcho on the phone. If they’re solicitors you’re making a complaint to the Law Society, if they’re conveyancers it’s something else but there is an Ombudsman type thing ( sorry, it’s late, been a long day)
I really hope you don’t have to start again, but if you do phone your conveyancer weekly. Make him/her speak to you and tell you what is outstanding, what they’re dealing with. She who nags gets completion.

( and I had one who didn’t carry out additional searches I’d asked and paid for because her secretary didn’t think they were necessary…. Err yes they were , which is why I’d ticked the box and paid)

I could have written this myself a few months ago!

The only reason we knew there was an issue was that the buyer knocked on the door to see what the hold-up was, turns out the solicitor was sitting on correspondence for weeks at a time.
We were responding to queries the same day and when original documents were required even driving 20-miles to give them to the solicitor personally (well, their clerk). The paperwork them sat in the pending tray until they "could get around to it".
I thought it was only estate agents that were lying, untrustworthy and want to do the least possible work for the maximum cost!

It's not Countrywide Conveyancers you're using by any chance is it? They are notoriously awful and almost cost us thousands and left us homeless due to their incompetence.

No, it is a long established local law firm, with a previously good reputation. Its reviews have declined lately though.