Is this poor service from my solicitor?

futureawaits · 2024-10-23T14:12:01+00:00

My offer was accepted nearly 15 weeks ago. I informed my solicitor when I instructed her that I was aiming to complete by the 23rd October (today) for various reasons/commitments. She informed the sellers solicitor of this when she sent the enquires 5 weeks ago and he responded saying that he thought that date was achievable. Now, I know nothing is set in stone and even the slightest thing can cause delays (which it has) and unfortunately I have not completed today as I'd hoped. Frustrating, but nothing I can do about it. What has annoyed me though, is my solicitors communication. As it stands, I don't know what or who is holding things up currently. I emailed her for an update last Tuesday, no response. I emailed again on Thursday and reminded her that I was aiming to complete by today and asked if she could confirm if this was achievable or not, again no response so I rang the office on Monday morning and was told someone would call me back, but they never did. Am I right to be annoyed? Is there a reason why she couldn't confirm this? Clearly it won't happen now but was this poor service to not even acknowledge my emails/calls and reply yes/no? I'm pretty pissed off tbh and feel like putting in a complaint or at least sending her an email. Even if she had said "no, not achievable" at least I would have known!

FinallyMovingHouse · 23/10/2024 15:15

Yes - poor service. Have you not had regular comms in the last 5 weeks at all? We are (hopefully) 4 weeks from completion now and it's been almost daily comms with ours, trying to sort enquiries, re-enquiries etc. I'm assuming you've had the Report on Title from her?

WTFMywork · 23/10/2024 15:16

Look at your client care letter/retainer letter. That will have contact details re a complaint. Nothing can be done if you are not ready to complete, but no excuse re not responding to emails. They will have SLA’s to comply with.

Original poster

futureawaits · 23/10/2024 15:25

@FinallyMovingHouse no I haven't received the report on title yet.

The last time I spoke to her was on the 10th October when she said that 1 enquiry was outstanding. I have no idea if this has been resolved or not yet - for all I know it could have been sitting on her desk for a week.

I completely understand these things take time and the enquires stage can drag on, clearly we aren't ready to exchange/complete yet (frustrating but fine) but why couldn't she just say that?

I've been wondering for days if we'll complete on time, when she could have just confirmed this a few days ago...

OP posts:

TizerorFizz · 23/10/2024 15:25

Why was there 10 weeks between you having your offer accepted and the enquiries being sent off? That’s 2 months plus. Have you all been asleep? That’s where the time is lost.

Has your survey been done? Has the solicitor given it to a conveyancer? Has the solicitor left the company? Go and see them. I use local solicitor/conveyancer and they know me. Plus the agent uses a sales administrator to push these things along. What is the agent doing? Who’s pushing from their side? Has the vendor got their contract done? I’d stop emailing and start phoning. You cannot just state a date and hope for the best.

Original poster

futureawaits · 23/10/2024 15:29

@TizerorFizz unfortunately it took the vendor nearly 5 weeks to complete the forms/draft contract and then it was a further 5-6 waiting for the local searches to return.

OP posts:

Original poster

futureawaits · 23/10/2024 15:30

@TizerorFizz and yes my survey was done and mortgage offer received in August.

OP posts:

Park24 · 23/10/2024 15:33

Sounds terrible service but it's exactly the same kind of thing I received when we were buying our house. Incredibly frustrating. I would escalate to a complaint.

Original poster

futureawaits · 23/10/2024 15:52

UPDATE - the estate agent has just rang me and said that he's spoken to the sellers solicitor who confirmed everything is with my solicitor and he's waiting on a response from her. I'm furious tbh!! I wonder how long the paperwork has been sitting her?!

OP posts:

Frecklespy · 23/10/2024 20:28

futureawaits · 23/10/2024 15:29

@TizerorFizz unfortunately it took the vendor nearly 5 weeks to complete the forms/draft contract and then it was a further 5-6 waiting for the local searches to return.

There's the delay.

Your solicitor won't be able to review any of the draft contract paperwork in order to raise initial enquiries until he has been sent it.

Although your offer was made 15 weeks ago, your solicitor only received the paperwork 10 weeks ago. They won't send off for searches until they have the paperwork, so the late return of the seller's paperwork has had a knock-on effect on everything following. Your solicitor will need a week or so to review the paperwork and decide what enquiries to raise. Then the seller's solicitor will need to forward them on to other third parties (including the seller), wait for the return before being in a position to respond. Then the responses may require further enquiries to be made....

Your desired completion date is only a target to aim towards. You and your solicitor are depending on third parties doing their part in a timely manner, but you can't actually control it, so timescales are estimates only.

The Report on Title is sent to you to read and understand after all enquiries (or at least the vast majority of them) have been satisfied. At the same time, the contract will be sent to you for signature and return. It is only when this paperwork has been returned to your solicitor with your agreement to proceed, that the solicitors can start liaising for tentative completion dates.

It is nice to have a solicitor who keeps you in the loop with regular updates but you have to also understand that providing updates to their clients isn't actually progressing the work, rather it is slowing progress down. Therefore, when the solicitor is very busy, they prioritise what they have to do and, unfortunately, providing updates is not considered a priority.

In the nicest possible way, solicitors don't sit on work. They prioritise it, along with their other clients work. A file not particularly close to exchange is less of a priority than one close to or already exchanged and preparing for completion. As the work is of a legal nature, solicitors have to check and double check that all is in order before it can move to exchange. Often a senior partner will check the file and sign off before that can happen. Solicitors don't immediately look at everything that lands in their inbox the minute it arrives. Reading through responses to enquiries is not a five minute job - it's very important that they spend some time reviewing the responses properly.

Original poster

futureawaits · 23/10/2024 20:33

@Frecklespy

I understand all of this, but the hold up now is with my solicitor (not the seller or sellers solicitor)

OP posts:

Frecklespy · 23/10/2024 21:39

futureawaits · 23/10/2024 20:33

@Frecklespy

I understand all of this, but the hold up now is with my solicitor (not the seller or sellers solicitor)

Yes, I understand that, but these matters have to be done with due diligence in mind. Your solicitor does not want to be sued for missing something so they have to review any responses carefully. For all you know, the responses were only forwarded to your solicitor a day or two ago.

ForPearlViper · 23/10/2024 22:08

I understand you feel you are not getting a good service. Moving house cannot be prepared to any other service. It's crap. However, you need to be extremely assertive but very, very nice. Unfortunately, it is who shouts loudest (in the nicest possible way). I wouldn't accept vagueness about what we are waiting for and what still needs to be done. I wanted it listing and wanted to know what is possible to do to expedite it and if there was anything I could do.

I am nicest and least complainy and assertive person with everything else but that doesn't wash when you are buying and selling a house.

If is any consolation, this too shall pass. But after the stress of my last move I was pretty much catatonic for a few hours.

Miniopolis · 23/10/2024 22:45

Frecklespy · 23/10/2024 20:28

There's the delay.

Your solicitor won't be able to review any of the draft contract paperwork in order to raise initial enquiries until he has been sent it.

Although your offer was made 15 weeks ago, your solicitor only received the paperwork 10 weeks ago. They won't send off for searches until they have the paperwork, so the late return of the seller's paperwork has had a knock-on effect on everything following. Your solicitor will need a week or so to review the paperwork and decide what enquiries to raise. Then the seller's solicitor will need to forward them on to other third parties (including the seller), wait for the return before being in a position to respond. Then the responses may require further enquiries to be made....

Your desired completion date is only a target to aim towards. You and your solicitor are depending on third parties doing their part in a timely manner, but you can't actually control it, so timescales are estimates only.

The Report on Title is sent to you to read and understand after all enquiries (or at least the vast majority of them) have been satisfied. At the same time, the contract will be sent to you for signature and return. It is only when this paperwork has been returned to your solicitor with your agreement to proceed, that the solicitors can start liaising for tentative completion dates.

It is nice to have a solicitor who keeps you in the loop with regular updates but you have to also understand that providing updates to their clients isn't actually progressing the work, rather it is slowing progress down. Therefore, when the solicitor is very busy, they prioritise what they have to do and, unfortunately, providing updates is not considered a priority.

In the nicest possible way, solicitors don't sit on work. They prioritise it, along with their other clients work. A file not particularly close to exchange is less of a priority than one close to or already exchanged and preparing for completion. As the work is of a legal nature, solicitors have to check and double check that all is in order before it can move to exchange. Often a senior partner will check the file and sign off before that can happen. Solicitors don't immediately look at everything that lands in their inbox the minute it arrives. Reading through responses to enquiries is not a five minute job - it's very important that they spend some time reviewing the responses properly.

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That’s all great if they’re communicating. If they’re not, then it looks less likely.