For being angry at solicitors attitude

[AnnaJ79]

I recently sold my house. It’s been sold, mortgage paid off, new people living there since mid august but I still haven’t received my share of the sale. I’ve emailed and rang my own solicitor a few times since Monday and was told I’d have an update Wednesday. Heard nothing. Emailed again this morning and got no reply. Would it be unreasonable to ring again demanding an answer as I need this money to go towards another place for me and my kids. First time I’ve sold a house so I have no idea if im being fobbed off or not but it’s so frustrating at this stage

I would be very concerned! We were instructed by our solicitor not to hand over the keys until they had conformed receipt of funds.

X post - I now see it is not as straight forward. Lengthy timescale you describe is still not acceptable.

In Scotland, the solicitor receives the money, hands over the keys, pays off the mortgage then sends you the rest. Should be the same day or the next working day.

Sorry maybe I haven’t explained properly. The funds were there when we handed over the keys. The money is with my exh solicitor who dealt with the sale of the house. I’ve asked my own solicitor on numerous occasions to ask for it to be transferred but have been told they’re waiting on her to transfer the money. I’ve just called again and actually cried down the phone to the secretary because the solicitor is yet again out of office. This is so frustrating. I can’t ask my ex if he has received his share as he will just ignore my message 🙈

Can you just contact your Ex’s solicitor directly, asking them to transfer you your money?

Fwiw we sold the FMH last year. Funds were in my solicitor’s account the day we sold, and she transferred my & my ex’s shares that day. The only reason I can think of for holding the money is if there’s disagreement about the amount you’re each getting?

No we’ve agreed to all the terms and conditions. I really can’t understand what the delay is. His solicitor did contact mine to say the funds were ready but that was mid august and nothing since! I’m really really bad over my solicitors attitude and her secretary’s attitude also even though I know it has absolutely nothing to do with her but she’s not very nice on the phone

Have the financial details of the divorce been agreed and are they in the form of a court order? It is possible they are waiting for the order to be finalised and agreed by the court before releasing funds.

Then speak to his solicitor. Ask them why they are withholding your money. Your solicitor has no power to force them; you need to find out why it is being held up.

Call again and ask to speak to the head of department. If no joy, ask to speak to the managing partner. Request the complaints procedure (set everything out fully in writing) and make a complaint.

I’m a solicitor and if this is correct you need to be taking action now for negligence. On completion day the money comes to the solicitor and they should send the balance to you within a day depending what time completion took place.

Ask to speak to the client relations partner

Here's the link to the Solicitors Regulation Authority, their professional body. I'd Google the most senior partner at both of these firms. Email them - XH's saying that, given the utterly unacceptable delay, you are assuming that there has been fraud, your own with something similar plus all the dates you have tried to contact them and received no response. Ask for the money within 24 hours or you will be going to the SRA. They can order their bank to send you the money in minutes. This should never have happened

And now with link www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/

Op I suspect the Solicitors that received the funds have sent out the entire amount to your ex in error (it happens more oftan than you think!). They will now be trying to get hold of him to ask him to return your share. Either he is making the right noises about returning but hasn't yet done so or he has gone awol knowing full well what has happened. Either way the solicitor is liable.

I would go to their office and sit tight until the funds are in your account, let them worry about chasing the money, not you. You should have had the funds either same day or the next assuming the transfer was just before bank closing hours.

Thanks everyone for replies and advice. I really appreciate it. I rang them and emailed them again demanding an explanation etc. got a call back stating I should have the money tomorrow so fingers crossed. Absolutely drained from the stress of it. Thanks so much again

I hope you get your money tomorrow.

Thank you I really hope so too

You can ring the solicitors who acted on the sale as if the house was in joint names they are acting for you both. We often act on cases like this and sale proceeds are transferred to the sellers bank accounts as per instructions on the day of completion. There should be no need for them to transfer to your solicitors as this just holds things up. Due to money laundering regulations funds are to be paid in to the clients bank account directly and not via a third party. Hope you get your money tomorrow if not ring the solicitors who acted on the sale as this is on them!

This is massively concerning. The money has to be passed over for completion. If its bot with your solicitor then they have breached their obligations also. How did they pay the mortgage off with no funds?
When we sold funds were in our account in 20 minutes.
Id call the law society that regulate the solicitors and complain. There are very strick rules on how they hold funds and they have breached it. Dont wait. I suspect theres more to it or you would have had your money already.

This is the stuff of nightmares, how have you waited since mid-August??

I really hope your money is with you tomorrow. If not, then complain properly and strongly as suggested above.

That sounds like rubbish to me. Completion cannot happen until the money is transferred. Go as high as you can in the law firm, contact the Law Society. I cannot see how your mortgage could be paid off if money wasn’t paid by the buyers?

Is the solicitor that handled the sale your ex's solicitor or the buyers solicitor?

If you don't, make a formal complaint to them in writing threatening them with the Legal Ombudsman, and be prepared to follow through on it if you don't get it resolved within the time Ombudsman allows them (8 weeks IIRC).

I had to do this to get a sum owing to me from a property sale. If my experience is anything to go by, complaining may not achieve much but the Ombudsman contacting them about a case to investigate will make them sit up and take notice.

Clearly a solicitor error and should have been resolved long ago. I hope the money arrives in good time today. Ensure they have paid interest on the time they were holding the funds. If not, ask your solicitor to calculate and invoice them statutory interest. A complaint to both solicitors and the Law Society is also warranted you should never have been put through this stress; you'll have to escalate it through your own solicitor complaints process first.