Conveyancing

[Sameolesame]

Why are conveyancing solicitors so utterly lacking in being proactive?

We have to chase ours, he gets information wrong, etc. He comes across as lazy and inexperienced.

I’m close to lodging a complaint with the relevant legal board.

There are good and bad in every profession.

You’ll have to complain to the partner in charge of his file before going to the SRA.
Do you think he’s overwhelmed with work or just useless?

Our solicitor is good. Very well regarded in the area. She’s done her due diligence on our house really thoroughly. But boy is she unresponsive. The entire chain of solicitors have been terrible for it. It’s taken two weeks from the first exchange attempt to actually exchanging this week due to a severe lack of communication. If it wasn’t for estate agents & the chain chasing constantly every day, multiple times, I’m sure we’d not be moving until the new year! 🙄

To be honest, I think they are overworked. Many solicitors were furloughed & then they’ve seen a massive boom in sales due to the stamp duty holiday. Searches are taking a long time, mortgages taking weeks. I think they are juggling a lot of balls.

Still utterly frustrating when you are paying a lottt of money for them!

My solicitor is absolutely amazing. She’s efficient and responsive. I will email her about 7pm and get a response 5 minutes later. The sellers solicitor on the other hand, absolutely useless and delaying the whole chain with their slowness and incompetence.

Oh tell me about it!
I've been involved in two sales / purchases lately. Mine took almost seven months but was a chain of four.
DS is still waiting to complete on a house from June. Only 3 in the chain and his conveyancer has been appalling, as have all the others.Complete lack of communication and nothing done unless prodded.

The lack of communication really gets to me. I sent him an email this morning letting him know that while I do not want to complain to the partner and the ombudsman I feel I will have no choice if this continues.

Not once has this solicitor contacted us from his motivation. Not once! We constantly chase. We waited patiently for the searches to come through and we had to chase up to find out if he received them. Miraculously after 5 mins of our email, he sends the searches. Since then no response in the queries we raised one of which was a clear error on his part in terms of him not properly reading the details and providing a completely wrong summary of one of the issues. Since the searches, we give 3-5days after our email and when no response chase by phone. He will then promise to do something and then we have to chase again. A never ending circle.

Mine is great. My buyer is on their second solicitor both of whom are useless

I read comments on here and it really gets my goat. If you have chosen a poor solicitor then that is your own fault. Seek recommendations and I do not mean from the estate agents who are getting a bung from their recommended panel lawyer. During this pandemic and the SDLT exempt period the housing market is absolutely flooded. What are you paying for a conveyancer? A thousand per transaction plus disbursements is about right. And you think you're paying a lot? Quite willing to pay the agent thousands for sticking a sign up and shoving you on right move! Constant chasing of your solicitor just delays and frustrates. Leave them alone to get on with the job. It also helps if you read the stuff they send to you and respond when required to provide money on account and I'd etc and return of forms.
Your solicitor may well be waiting weeks for replies to enquiries especially if a panel solicitor is on the other side.(recommended by greedy agent who get thousands already as stated above) Brighton is renowned for having the worst estate agents for harassing the chain and lying about conveyancera not responding. Clients then in turn harass the solicitor and so the viscous circle continues. Remember this. The agents does not give a monkeys about you or anyone else in the chain. They don't harass to help you the client. They harass for the sole purpose of getting their commission into their preferred time slot for bonuses etc. The only person who is acting in your best interest is your lawyer. It is a pre requisite of their profession. If you harass them into making an error which affects the scalability of your home when you come to sell or upgrade then no doubt you will be the first in line to blame them and seek compensation. Conveyancing is a thankless task so spare a thought for the (qualified) person in all of this, treat them with some respect and courtesy (missing generally in our society) and TRUST them to look after you and they will. Never use a conveyancer recommended by the agent! The agent has to tell you up front if they receive a fee from the lawyer. If they don't they are breaking the law. You solicitor has to tell you if they pay the agent if not they are breaking the SRA code of practice and can be struck off. Always ask this way you know you are getting what you pay for from your solicitor.

@Itmakessense

I read comments on here and it really gets my goat. If you have chosen a poor solicitor then that is your own fault. Seek recommendations and I do not mean from the estate agents who are getting a bung from their recommended panel lawyer. During this pandemic and the SDLT exempt period the housing market is absolutely flooded. What are you paying for a conveyancer? A thousand per transaction plus disbursements is about right. And you think you're paying a lot? Quite willing to pay the agent thousands for sticking a sign up and shoving you on right move! Constant chasing of your solicitor just delays and frustrates. Leave them alone to get on with the job. It also helps if you read the stuff they send to you and respond when required to provide money on account and I'd etc and return of forms. Your solicitor may well be waiting weeks for replies to enquiries especially if a panel solicitor is on the other side.(recommended by greedy agent who get thousands already as stated above) Brighton is renowned for having the worst estate agents for harassing the chain and lying about conveyancera not responding. Clients then in turn harass the solicitor and so the viscous circle continues. Remember this. The agents does not give a monkeys about you or anyone else in the chain. They don't harass to help you the client. They harass for the sole purpose of getting their commission into their preferred time slot for bonuses etc. The only person who is acting in your best interest is your lawyer. It is a pre requisite of their profession. If you harass them into making an error which affects the scalability of your home when you come to sell or upgrade then no doubt you will be the first in line to blame them and seek compensation. Conveyancing is a thankless task so spare a thought for the (qualified) person in all of this, treat them with some respect and courtesy (missing generally in our society) and TRUST them to look after you and they will. Never use a conveyancer recommended by the agent! The agent has to tell you up front if they receive a fee from the lawyer. If they don't they are breaking the law. You solicitor has to tell you if they pay the agent if not they are breaking the SRA code of practice and can be struck off. Always ask this way you know you are getting what you pay for from your solicitor.

It sounds like a topic you're really passionate about. But I don't think anyone is expressing more than frustration. No one is complaining about the fee. Nor the time it takes to get the legal stuff done. Everyone knows who they're paying / who the client is / who is after their cut. But that doesn't change the fact that people who are moving or in temporary accommodation aren't frustrated.

Probably no use to you now but having had the experience of a 'call centre' conveyancer and a local conveyancer I would go with the local every time. Conveyancing is all they do and they do it well.

I heartily recommend them to others.