Non responsive conveyancing solicitor for cash sale

[NatureLovingWalks]

I’ve sold my house at a heavily discounted price to a cash buyer privately (no estate agent) on the mutual agreement it must complete quickly - he’s an investor and flips them on so the risk with anything more than a 8-10 week completion time is market changing for worse which could affect the sale price or sale altogether. He had a recommended solicitor who does a lot of his previous cash sales for vendors but I declined to use that recommendation due to concerns over conflict of interest.

I appointed my own solicitor who I’ve used before and was prompt and communicative last time on this occasion but is not replying to emails. The issue is i have no idea where my sale is up to, if we will be meeting the proposed exchange date, if she has even spoken to the buyers solicitor. I need to have an idea of the exchange we are working to secure a rental no landlord will consider me unless I know when I’m exchanging ideally they want the assurance I’ve exchanged before I can sign a rental agreement. I’ve been into the solicitor office and rang up I am able to speak to the secretary who just keeps telling me she will reply. The solicitor will not speak to me at all

I totally understand I’m not the only case she has but I’m taking the hit on price to be able to move fast and everything is time sensitive and reliant on communication. I am starting to feel if she couldn’t work on this basis she shouldn’t have agreed to take the case on. I’m not sure how to approach this as don’t want to seem pushy and give more reason to be ignored but equally they knew this is a cash buy with no onward purchase which is time sensitive. It might be no news is good news but an update on where things are up to would at least enable me to plan accordingly and assurance things are moving in the time I had indicated we needed to happen

how can I approach this to get an update? There is no estate agent so no middle person between parties to use. Really stressed and feel like no idea what’s going on

Your client care letter will state a supervising partner. Contact them. Conveyancers are snowed under but yours really should have replied to you by now.

Really tough time in conveyancing right now with everyone working their buns off to complete their cases before 31st March, did you tell your conveyancer the timescale? What did they say to that?

Also how long ago did you instruct?

@LadyEstrellaDellaheugh Hi thank you yes I did and the secretary said at the time no problem we will try and get it through as soon as we can. The solicitor hasn’t responded to confirm any time frames but opening letter said a standard up to 12 weeks however I took that as a standard and didn’t mean they would be working to that which is what I’m now worried about. I accepted the offer 3 week ago and appointed her immediately there were some postal delays receiving the forms but she’s had all my forms about a week now. All I really want is some communication back to understand if she’s had contact with buyers solicitor etc and when does she think exchange will be. I did impress at the of instructions it needed to complete fast as condition of the buyer and part of me feels like if she was too busy she could have just said. I’m wondering to switch solicitors but fell at this stage it would prolong it. The lack of replies to support me In tineframes for sorting rental and removals is what’s stressing me most thank you

Thank you there was a contact but the other director who was given as a point of contact is renown for being poor at dealing with complaints and I’m also worried going down than route might make things worse ideally I’d like to sort it out with my solicitor who is also a director

It may well be the March SDLT deadline forcing some clients down the priority list but she should be communicating that to you. Does the firm have an office you can visit, maybe pop in to drop something off and check she has everything? Some firms have an office on the local high street, while others are on business parks so inaccessible and everything is over email. (I'm currently using one which is entirely online whereas my mother has used the same firm for about 30 years as they still have a high street office in the town she lived in at the time and she likes to sign things in person.)

Thank you yes they have an office and I popped in last week the secretary said the solicitor would definitely get back to me but I was unable to see or speak to her. She didn’t respond to anything subsequently either. I do live out of the area and with working it is not feasible for me to pop in without taking an afternoon off work but I think I’ll ring the secretary up on Monday and explain im looking for some guidance on timelines and explain the rental conundrum I’m in. The secretaries all are lovely so maybe one of them will empathise.

I am worried also though if I’m being pushed down the list and it delays because of my solicitor capacity this could cost me my sale price or the sale itself so I’ll recap on the nature / terms of sale. My worry is I signed the letter to instruct where they covered themselves saying up to 12 weeks but honestly that is worst case scenario.

She is a very good solicitor so hoping it’s all in hand and I’ll call the secretary on Monday to explain my predicament

Yes definitely go in again, ask for an update on your case, what's happened so far etc, is other side solicitor working towards the time frame too etc
The thing with moving now is your 3 weeks down the line. Noone is going to commit to completing this in 5 weeks with starting again!

hi just updating on this. I’ve been sent some additional questions which appear far from standard. These were passed on from the buyers solicitor to mine to me. These included a request to agree to a vague clause which would leave me open to risk. I queried this with my solicitor no reply. Eventually did my own digging with the buyer turns out it was an error. I let my solicitor know. I’ve asked for guidance on the questions I don’t believe I should have to answer them and I also don’t know the answer.

the client care letter stated I could contact the other director or secretaries for updates but I have flat been refused this when I’ve called up or gone in. I’m told every time I can only speak to my solicitor and all they can do is pass the message on. I’m reluctant to escalate as I don’t think it would do anything and I’m also worried it would slow things down.

I was told today due to 31st deadline every solicitor is the same but I really feel they should not have took the case if they couldn’t work to the deadlines and support me through such a time sensitive sale. Communication is paramount so I can plan & secure my rental which I have said all the way through. The passing on of vague clauses asking me to accept with no advice which was clearly an error has massively concerned me and I’m lacking confidence in her ability to manage my case on top of her workload. I’ve never had a call back and the only emails are to request or pass on info which have been 2 emails over a month. I’m having to use google and AI tools to check some of the questions coming though which is far from ideal

the reception told me there is no point trying to transfer it as no other firm will take me with March 31st deadline looming. I guess I’m stuck :(