House move - another delay and LIES!!

[SWFARMER]

I'm so annoyed.

We signed all documents last Monday and solicitor states she had asked the final queries the week before. I rang today a week later for update and she said no news yet. Estate agent rang me form seller and said their solicitor has been trying to gethokd of her for weeks and she's not returning messages of email!! I said no clue to our knowledge werewaiting for answers to queries.

Anyway estate agent rang again and said that they got hold of.my solicitor and she said she is just writing up the queries today!!! She told us this was done 2 weeks ago. It's getting g beyond ridiculous.

We haven't chain either side. It's been 3 months. We were promised start of August and then next week but looks like next week is out th window!

Also she asked for our deposit and fees last week so nearly £9000 went into their client bank account last Monday. Withheld queries it seems like it'll be another 2-3 weeks till we get any response back by time it reaches our Sellers solicitor. (our solicitor told then they'd receive the queries probably on Friday, didn't know it took 4 days to write a letter!!)

How long is our solicitor allowed to hold our money? I feel like asking for it back as she's gaining interest on that! What if queries come back and she raises anymore?! We would be verging on 4-5 months if she raises even more.

I'm so stressed it's making me I'll. It's awful.

Sorry for the long rant

Lots of typos!! Sorry all.

That's crap. I'd be reporting her upwards to be honest.

With regard to your deposit, I believe they have to pay any interest gained to you.

they probably have a scheme with the bank where it doesn't earn interest on credit balances but it offsets to some extent charges, or interest that would be due on loans or overdrafts. So there will be no interest for you.

Piglet surely I'd have been better off keeping in my account? From what I've read they usually ask for a deposit a few days to a week before exchanging?? So I didn't know if it was allowed for them to keep for a long period of time.

Princess once we've completed I will be going through the correct higher channels. I understand solicitors are busy but this is ridiculous and the lieing is the worst bit. The false hope. Everything. It's really stressful. It's lucky were not renting as if we had to give a months notice we'd have been homeless by now! It's getting beyond ridiculous now x

Yes.

The sums involved in houses can be huge. Last time I did one, I had it sitting in our account earning the best monthly interest I could find, which was quite a lot, so I was peeved when it sat in the solicitors account doing nothing. Every day of lost interest would have been worth having.

I have no idea what to do

Under the SRA you have to put your complaint to the solicitor first and they have to provide a response within a set period. I had a bad experience with a conveyancer once, they failed to register my property, lacked communication, got records wrong. I was able to tell as I was well read up on conveyancing practice but wasn't knowledgeable enough to do it myself. They ended up refunding us 100% of the fee plus a small sum as compensation. We used some of this to get everything double checked by another solicitor. We were glad we did as five years later the firm went under and the Land Registry wrote to us saying they were investigating that firm for fraud on stamp duty payments - turned out lots of stamp fees hadn't been paid but ours was all sorted so we didn't have to pay it again and then try and claim back from the now defunct solicitors. I am hopeful your situation is more a case of disorganisation by the solicitor involved than anything more sinister but you are right to be worried about these warning signs.

as a minor issue interest rates are now so low that even house-sized sums earn not very much. Three years ago it was worth worrying over, not now.

Thank you pets. They know I'm pissed off with them and that I have had to chase constantly.

Theyre not aware that I know the above but I will make them aware tomorrow.

I don't really want to put a formal complaint in until we've completed tbh as I'm scared they'll turn round and say they no longer want to work for us

If instructed and working on a case it is a major deal (striking off etc) refusing not to serve you. There are very rare circumstances where this is permitted to happen and they have to hand over all paperwork etc to another solicitor. They would be more worried about your complaint than you should be of them pulling out.

Rang our solicitor today again. Raised queries with her and she avoided all questions. Said our money won't make interest but if over £20 we will be refunded.. Really don't know what to do. She said she will fax queries over to make it faster than writing a letter. I don't know whether to ring everyday in hope that it will get sorted!

Yes ring everyday. At the least

You can ring every day but if the seller's solicitor doesn't answer the queries or has to contact third parties in order to provide answers to the queries, no amount of phoning will make a blind bit of difference as to how quickly your solicitor gets the replies.

I work in conveyancing and most clients severely under estimate how long it takes for queries to be answered. And that's before the answer results in yet another query.

Your solicitor is also working on behalf of your mortgage company (if you're getting a mortgage), so they have to satisfy any conditions the lender requires too. Also bear in mind the various organisations that may be contacted by the seller's solicitors in order to answer the queries, i.e. lender, local authority, council, client, building control and planning, Land Registry etc - often paperwork is requested but not provided meaning an indemnity policy is required (lender insists on these in the absence of written evidence) and it takes time to get responses back from all these third parties which then have to be provided to your solicitor via the seller's solicitor.

Re the deposit. You can ask for the deposit to be sent back to you if exchange is not imminent.

Well I can't believe your solicitor is writing letters and faxing as a quicker alternative in this day and age. Solicitors who send their own emails - or even who have support staff email on their behalf - tend to be much quicker at dealing with things imo. Last time we needed a conveyancer I got a quote from someone I know via work, but I went with someone else when his response time even to quote was 5 hours longer than the quickest quote and had been dictated to his secretary.

Fax?

Hahahahahahahahahhaha!

Time to move into the 1990's

Lol piglet.

Well update we rang today and said we really really would prefer it be pushed through pronto.

She called this afternoon and had an email back from sellers solicitor answering 2 queries.

Waiting on 1 which she replied to asking if they'll pay 63 for indemnity insurance and asked if we'd pay if not. I agreed if it makes it move faster. She said if she gets a reply today or tomorrow we can exchange tomorrow and have they keys Friday or Monday!!

So huge progress as long as she sticks to what she has said.

I was panicking as I found online that she had a tribunal and was suspended from work in 2011/2012 and ordered to pay £9000 to a client of hers from 2007. So got all worked up then she rangus.

Fingers crossed it goes to plan now!!

Fingers crossed for you, Im also hoping to exchange soon. Waiting when you don't really know whats going on is hard!

I know I hate it rose. I like to be in the know so I don't worry. No phone call yet but should have one today. Will ring her at 3 if not.

I feel so sorry for you - the whole system is rubbish and seems to thrive on those working within it lying and being incompetent. Hope you get to completion, then you can work on a formal complaint.