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Original poster

Online conveyancer delaying exchange?

44 replies

LauraMJJ88 · 30/11/2020 19:26

I hope someone can help!

We sold our house using Purple Bricks and on the promise of not paying their fees upfront we used their solicitors - DC Law.

They have mucked us about royally, our convenyancer has changed 3 times and our new one is just useless. The last person assigned to us was decent and told us the 27th November would be okay to go ahead, we have this in writing. Someone else in the chain was not ready so all agreed for the 3rd Dec.

DC Law stated they need to do a 'final check' on our documents last Monday, we were promised this would be done by last Wednesday, then Friday and then today. This morning our convenyancer said she expected it to be reviewed and signed off today. We rang at 3pm and she stated her team leader was on annual leave and won't pick it up until tomorrow!

I guess what I'm asking is if anyone else has been in this position and what the outcome was? We don't have any leverage to push them to review quicker. If there are any outstanding tasks it then has to be reviewed again! She couldn't sound more disinterested and unhelpful over the phone and won't give any definitive answers.

Sorry that was so long - I guess I'm just looking for reassurance!

Thanks!

OP posts:
Baxdream · 30/11/2020 22:02

We just moved and bought a house up for sale with Purple Bricks. They were absolutely useless!

Our buyers were also using purple bricks, but even worse, their solicitors.

We had 3 houses in our chain. From the moment where we agreed a completion date and everyone saying they were ready, it took the PB solicitor a week to actually come back to our solicitor so we could exchange. Getting through to the solicitor was a nightmare and my solicitor was pulling her hair out.
Awful experience!

Watermelon39 · 30/11/2020 22:30

Our buyers are also using DC Law and after weeks upon weeks of really slow responses we googled the firm : the reviews are terrible!!! We were supposed to have exchanged last week as well and we are trying to set a completion date but our solicitor cannot get a response from them.

So frustrating! Feel like they are going to drag this out til January now...

lollypop345 · 30/11/2020 22:39

I sold with purplebricks and did a lot of research before using them, every single thing I found online said to not go anywhere near their conveyancers. Once we'd sold and I'd started to put offers in on properties, I had to reassure every estate agent/vendor that yes I did sell with purplebricks but I am not using their conveyancers, I honestly think from their relief at this that if I was using them my offers would have been refused instantly! Horrendous reputation, hope it gets sorted for you soon.

ChocolateBiscuit1 · 30/11/2020 22:40

So sorry to hear you both had similar experiences. We feel like prize idiots falling for this trap but we've never been in a chain before nor sold a house and should have really done some research. The whole situation is farcical, there's seemingly noone to complain too so we're totally at their mercy. Fingers crossed things get sorted for you soon Watermelon and glad you managed to get there in the end Baxdream.

ChocolateBiscuit1 · 30/11/2020 22:44

I wish we were as forward thinking as you Lollypop! Hope it all went smoothly for you Smile

Mydogisagentleman · 01/12/2020 17:23

Online Conveyancers are the devil.
We bought a BTL last year. Very straightforward 12 year old house through an excellent local estate agent.
Our mortgage broker recommended a firm in Leeds. We almost lost our place because of them and I ended up driving 3 hours to Leeds to drop some paper work off that they had lost.
Never again

silkiecat · 01/12/2020 17:34

Our buyers used Purplebricks and the legal team. I was very worried but so far they got queries back in 24 hours and applied for searches same day, mortgage got approved in a week and their solicitor told our estate agent. Think we've been lucky. They are called Premier Property Lawyers but seem to trade under millions of names.

Hope you can get things sorted.

Baxdream · 01/12/2020 18:16

@silkiecat have you completed? That's the worst part as it's admin staff that do all those bits. The trouble happens when you need the team leader, ie the actual solicitor.

silkiecat · 01/12/2020 18:23

No we are only about month and half in so have to exchange and complete - thankfully we bought already and have moved and so far biggest hold up is council searches taking 31 working days.

We are using a solicitor used before and their admin staff have been only cause of delays, probably not enough.

MrsHarryKane · 02/12/2020 07:51

Oh my gosh DC Law are horrible. Our previous vendors used them and our chain almost fell through because of them. They’re extremely rude to other conveyancers too which might mean other conveyancers in the chain are reluctant to chase them.....

WhispersAnonymous · 02/12/2020 10:31

Bloody DC law, we are buying a property and the sellers are using them and we have had no contact at all and it's been 8 weeks!!!

generallynot · 02/12/2020 11:35

I haven't used DC Law, but a couple of other cut price online law companies. They are the law industry equivalent of buying from Sports Direct and expecting friendly, efficient service and high quality goods. They take on far too much work to manage, there's a high turnover of underpaid, demotivated, inexperienced staff who have little incentive to do the job well. If you look at the terms and conditions you'll see they are almost certainly paying a huge commission to the estate agent or mortgage company, so there's really very little left to provide a decent service to clients. I've wasted so much time hanging on premium rate phone lines to speak to people who have no knowledge of my sale/purchase/remortgage and no interest in progressing it efficiently. Last time I moved I paid about £800 to use a local solicitor who was recommended by a few friends and several people on my local facebook page. It was so much easier and less stressful - well worth the money to know that someone competent was working for us. I would always do this in future.

Phyzzy · 02/12/2020 11:56

DS is buying his first house and had his offer accepted in June. Not an online conveyancer but a regular firm of solicitors.
They have been appalling from day one. No communication, never return calls, don't reply to emails. Promise to ring and never do.
Vague when they do communicate.
They send the wrong forms or forget to send them altogether.
Finally approaching completion this week.
No contract sent to sign until 4 days before completion due.

For example, he sent the HTB closure form in six weeks ago and they waited until two days before completion to send him a form to complete.

Fluffybutter · 02/12/2020 17:40

Why does this sound like the ones the bottom of our chain are using !
They are fucking useless and have pretty much screwed the whole chain when we were so close to exchange !
Bottom solicitor has point blank refused to sign off because our buyers have 83 years left on their lease even though the cut off point is 80.
They only brought this up yesterday when they should have noticed this at the beginning!! 13 weeks in and it’s all fucked up completely. Was told we would be exchanging imminently just a day ago and now this .

IndiaMay · 02/12/2020 20:59

I work for a large national law firm and am obviously using them. When I saw our buyers were using online conveyances and not a proper solicitors firm I was fuming. We considered rejecting the offer because I know how bad they are but we needed the sale because we already had somewhere to buy. In future I would genuinely consider remarketing a property if buyers were using online conyencers. At best it's an underpaid admin assistant who does everything and the only qualified legal professional will look over everything at the end.

JohnnyBullets · 02/12/2020 21:04

We used DC Law for our recent sale/purchase- never again!!!

Fluffybutter · 02/12/2020 21:11

Does anyone have any conveyance law experience?
The solicitor at the bottom is being really difficult and she keeps raising queries ,some of which have already been answered .
We just want to know if the ones she’s raised she can legitimately do as she’s going against her clients wishes .
Will obviously elaborate if anyone can help .

ChocolateBiscuit1 · 02/12/2020 21:21

An update - they contacted us late yesterday to say they were missing some documents that needed signing and posting! We sent special delivery and they were recieved this morning. Later today we found out something was wrong with the document we sent so had to amend and send again! Cue us panick calling our buyer and seller and getting everyone to (reluctantly) agreeing to exchange and complete same day tomorrow. This afternoon DC Law have given us a lot more attention thankfully but we are beyond livid they have put us in this situation when they have had our file ready for review for weeks. So tomorrow we have to move house and pray they process the document, exchange and transfer funds in time Shock. Fingers crossed everything goes to plan. We are beyond stressed and anxious.

I hope everyone else involved with this firm gets there issues sorted. It's strangely comforting knowing we're not the only ones Sad

Orangelover · 02/12/2020 23:03

Oh gosh OP what a nightmare. Hope it's now sorted for you.

I've recently sold with purple bricks and used their solicitors but it was Premier Property Lawyers here like a PP. They've been absolutely amazing. E-mails replied to within the hour, searches back in days. Offer accepted 7th Oct and we're aiming for completion 12th Dec and due to exchange next week. I was so worried about using an online conveyance but the firm we previously used were backlogged due to stamp duty holiday and were a bit slow with the quote so I just went with the purple bricks quote but luckily have come away ok!

Watermelon39 · 06/12/2020 22:35

Hi OP, hope you have made some progress with your sale/purchase?

ChocolateBiscuit1 · 07/12/2020 08:28

Hello Watermelon39! I was planning to update when sorted in case it helps someone in the same situation. The solicitors failed to sign off the file Thursday so everyone in the chain packed up and had removal vans for nothing and we failed to complete. Friday came, every other solicitor wanted to exchange contracts first and then send money but DC Law wanted to do the other way round. Cue 4 hours of trying to call them to just tell them to do the bloody contracts. 2pm rolls around and we're told completion could happen so we had to quickly pack up again, to be told its too late for money to reach the top of the chain. Completion day number 2 failed. We're just waiting for funds to transfer up the chain today but I am so racked with nerves I feel ill. I can't believe they have done this to us, leaving 4 families with empty houses basically camping for the weekend. Fingers crossed we should be in today. Thanks for your message x We will be taking this further against DC Law!

Watermelon39 · 07/12/2020 08:48

Oh gosh that sounds like a nightmare!!! Sorry I missed the name change. I’m actually gobsmacked that they are allowed to continue to operate this way. It doesn’t sound like genuine bad luck/ a mistake, it sounds like they have no idea what they are doing!
Neither my buyer or solicitor has been able to get ahold of DC Law last week- we were have been ready to exchange for 2 weeks. We have a chain of 6 and they are in the middle so we can’t even get messages up and down the chain properly about completion dates. No idea what to do!!! Stuck here til January I guess.

Have all my fingers crossed for you that you complete today!

ChocolateBiscuit1 · 07/12/2020 09:11

@Watermelon39 Sorry about the NC, I did it before posting just in case and it mustn't have changed in time. I'd tell you not to worry to put your mind at ease but judging by their most recent reviews something is going horribly wrong. I read a couple a few days ago about completion failing 5 times and thought 'oh that can't happen to me' but it has and is continuing to happen to a lot of people. We aren't just sitting around waiting for them to call us, over the last few days we must have tried calling them 500 times and that's not an exaggeration Sad whoever it is in your chain using them needs to use the same approach. And do not accept a simultaneous exchange and completion at any cost. It will not happen and you will be in our position. Unfortunately if its not you guys using them its out of your hands but like I said just do not book removal etc. Until exchange has taken place. Thank you. Will keep you updated xx

NewHouseNewMe · 07/12/2020 09:34

@ChocolateBiscuit1 I have been reading the thread with my mouth open! I hope you get done and dusted today. I can't imagine the stress you're all under.

WhispersAnonymous · 07/12/2020 09:52

Our sellers are using DC Law, can you tell me how long at the start of the process it took for them to contact your solicitors? We have just gotten to the 8 week mark and they haven't made any contact yet.