House sale fell through after exchange

[Heygirly6670]

Hi everyone,
I am a first time buyer. I have been in the process three months so long enough for a chain free empty property. I exchanged on the 16th dec, due to complete on 17th when I got an EMAIL from my solicitor not even a phone call to inform me that completion cannot happen as a historical charge was found on the property right after she sent my mortgage funds to the sellers solicitor. It took me a further 2 hours to get through to her on the phone to figure out what exactly was going on just for her to tell me “not my fault sellers solicitors where supposed to removed the charge” with absolutely no clear plan or explanation to where I stand. The charge is a 27 year old previous morgage that was never removed from the land registery and the sellers solicitors claimed it would be impossible to remove the charge and told me to get indemnity insurance which my lender would not accept in any circumstances. This happened on Wednesday which gave them 3 days to sort this out or come up with some sort of action plan on what happens next but I got absolutely no contact from anyone unless I asked for an update on what happened. It seems all the solicitors want to do is point fingers instead of actually do anything and it’s really taking a toll on my heath the stress it’s caused me as even if I get my deposit back I’ll be out at least £2500 not including any smaller costs I’ve incurred along the way which would make it near impossible for me to afford a different house anytime soon. I’m also paying for insurance on the property as I was told not to cancel it as ir would mean the property would be uninsured and I would be liable as I exchanged and signed contract. Solicitors are now closed for two week for Christmas so I have to deal with 2 weeks of stress and uncertainty. I just don’t know what to do and wondering if anyone has been through anything similar and if the hosue doesn’t complete if I would be able to claim costs from anyone? I am actually getting ill with stress and have a feeling I have a long roads in front of me which I will be unable to cope with.

I'm not a lawyer

Having handled a few property sales, as far as I can see your solicitor is completely at fault completely fault here

It's their responsibility to check if there are any charges registered against the property. It should have been one of the first things they did.

I'm so sorry you're having this experience 💐

Thank you, I’m not stalking someone on social media. And no I never received an address other than her solicitors address listed under her name

Are the estate agents also closed?
They could follow something up with the seller.

I am sorry this happened, especially so close to Christmas. I hope you get all your money back.

Unfortunately the sellers can’t do much the charge is not in her name it was from the owner before her. She has now instructed her solicitor specifically to sort it out whatever it takes. But now they are closed nothing will be done until they are open again.

@Heygirly6670 this is outrageous and unprofessional beyond belief on the part of both solicitors. Could you call the Law Society of Northern Ireland, name the two solicitors and see if they can advise?

I’m not even sure what way to contact them or if I’m at the point of contacting a law society. Do I not need to wait a while before taking that step

The issue is the unprofessional behaviour of lawyers and the dire situation they've left you in. They might have some ideas how you can progress things.
https://lawsoc-ni.org/

Ok is your solicitor on LinkedIn? You could use that to contact them and ask them to forward your compensation for their negligence? Get ChatGPT to write you a polite yet firm note.

OP you have options here, but everyone is relying on you being an uninformed FTB and not fighting back.

Normally I'd say follow the internal complaints procedure OP.

Given that they're shut and it's such an egregious fuck up, I'd go straight to the regulator.