Solicitor wants back the retainer they gave us back

[RosaStar]

We sold our flat 10 months ago. It was a long process where ultimately we lost 2 buyers and thousands of pounds. In part I blame this on how long solicitors took to get paperwork etc sorted.

Yesterday, I received an email from the solicitors saying they had incorrectly given me back the £400 retainer and they have now been contacted by the buyers solicitors saying there are arrears for the service charge for the time I lived there and they need the £400 back to pay for this.

Now, I was never once told I had arrears and I paid all bills by direct debit which I only cancelled after selling so not sure how I would have arrears. Secondly, I simply do not have a spare £400 and I don’t feel like I should have to find it when it was a mistake made by the solicitor to send it back.

Do I have any rights in saying no to this?

If you’ve definitely got service charge arrears then you’ll need to pay them. If not via this route then via the service company debt management route.

However, if your solicitor and service company confirmed all paid at the point of transaction then may be a different situation.

Don’t be ridiculous, of course you need to pay it.

just not sending it to the solicitor (who was holding it for you on account) doesn’t mean you escape liability for the debt. You’ll end up with a CCJ against you if you dont pay it. It won’t disappear just because the solicitor isn’t holding any of your money to pay it on your behalf.

Did you just cancel the direct debit after the sale or did you settle the final bill with the service company before cancelling the direct debit?
Just because you sold, doesn’t mean you don’t owe service charges for the period before you sold and it isn’t really the solicitors job to have checked you had paid your bills up to date. Of course you need to pay it.

If you think you had paid up in full the you should contact the service company to establish how they have calculated these arrears. If you are satisfied you owe them then pay up.
This is nothing to do with your solicitor really, except they are being used as a point of contact.

It will be owed because once the final years accounts are lodged, there can be underpayments. The management company has the right to claim this from you for the period you owned the flat.

I'd pay it rather than end up with court costs on top if they pursue you through the courts as you are liable for them.

Thanks all. I will contact the company to check how and if I do owe any fees.

It’s standard practice that money is held back for outstanding financial reasons after a sell. I would ask for proof of the arrears but otherwise if they indeed are from the period of time you held the property for then I can see what you can do?