How to get solicitors to get a move on......?

After having lost two would-be purchasers, last year, everything was going along fine with third and the flat I wanted to move to was empty and waiting for me. The block was built in the mid-80's and all bar two had their own garage allocated on the ground floor.

The Land Registry details were rather lengthy, as flats were shown in order they had originally been sold, not by number or floor.

My Solicitor was a in a large company, but, obviously, did not use their staff to trawl through these documents, so he had a lengthy telephone call with me saying he could not find a garage allocated to the flat I was purchasing.
He said that whereas, there was unlikely to be a problem whilst I was living there, could cause problems when the flat was next sold.

I pointed out that over the years, these flats (25 in total) had a total of some 40 owners, so obviously other Solicitors were quite happy with the Land Registry. He murmered something about rural solicitors working on 'hand shake' principle!!! He wanted me to sign an indemnity letter for his company.

As my daughter lived close to those flats, I got her to contact the EA selling it and together they visited and checked out the garage - yes it was there.

That weekend, my daughter came to visit me, and she checked those documents (she was a para-legal), and quite clearly found listed this flat AND GARAGE. I pointed out to the Solicitor that it was listed - No apology from him for missing it and worrying me.
All went ahead, no indemnity letter - and all is well.

Interestingly, on the day I actually moved it was my lovely Estate Agent who kept me closely informed as the monies moved between my purchasers' purchaser, then my old house and, it was she who rang to tell me at*1.15 pm* that the everything was completed and my daughter could collect the keys to the flat.

When I arrive nearly an hour later, the removal company were well into the process of getting all my stuff into the flat. At *4.30 pm *that day - the Solicitors' office rang to say I could collect the keys!!!! Grr.......

I think it’s one of these lucky , explained on a solicitors web site

www.cooklaw.co.uk/do-you-need-full-searches-or-search-insurance/

This is a link to another policy - other providers are available .

gcs-title.co.uk/instant-issue/policies-glance/local/no-search-purchase/

There was a boundary oddity on this property which meant an indemnity policy was needed from the vendor. We had to provide one for an issue with the property we sold (no FENSA certificate for a door). I recall thinking insurance seemed to be there for every aspect of a sale and purchase if only we knew about it.

Good luck with pushing onwards, an incredibly stressful time.

TheFrugalPiggy - I wonder if you could tell me where you got that policy from and what it was called please - I am not sure what to search for.

I can't help but wonder if your solicitor is the one that I used when I moved house last year Luckygirl. She dragged her feet so much that I was in danger of losing the buyer of my house who firmly believed that it was me holding things up. I repeatedly sent the same questionnaires back several times, via email, only to be told that she'd not received them and to send them again. Then she went on holiday for 2 weeks, immediately before completion, and didn't let me know who, if anyone, was dealing with it in her absence. She was so rude and unprofessional towards my purchasers solicitors that they refused to deal with her directly and liaised via her secretary. The final straw was her failure to send me the temporary lease agreement, that was to allow me to remain in my house as a tenant for 8 weeks, whilst I completed work on the new house. With less than 24 hours to go, I was almost homeless. She had the nerve to send me a "satisfaction of services and recommendation" form to complete. I returned it with a huge X across the page.

I am sure you can do without this hassle, and hope things are moving more rapidly now. I think it is becoming the norm to exchange contracts and complete sale on the same day nowadays, so hopefully will not take too long.

The price we are all having to pay for the litigious few. Solicitors have to do everything by the book and cover their backs.
Hope you get it all sorted out soon Luckygirl, you've been through so much and have been very courageous.
I'm sure you are looking forward to the day that you are happily settled in your lovely new home. Fingers crossed.

Solicitors are the bane of my life, getting anything done in between solicitors holidays is tough.
“Due Dilligence” is the problem - on both sides, getting all the searches done, particularly with older property, banks are also much more demanding these days.

We have just completed on a new build property. Didn't have searches done and instead took out an insurance policy which cost £168.00 inc VAT. This covers us against a fall in property value if future searches throw up anything nasty. This allowed us to buy the property in about 4 weeks.

I pressed her quite hard again and this has come back: All understood. I have asked for the anticipated timing to be checked and you should receive an email confirming approximate timing tomorrow.

So, maybe it pays to be a pain in the neck, or a thorn in her side.

I have put in so much work on all this, having to find various papers, guarantees, proof of servicing contracts etc. etc. etc. I feel a bit as if I have being doing most of it myself!

I have moved house several times over the years and none of this was needed. It has all become a huge burden to the seller now.

Buying a property is so stressful I sympathise with your predicament.
From experience you will be charged for every letter or email you send or telephone call made to the solicitor. I hope you asked for fixed price? If not wait for them to contact you.

It will be no quicker if you go to another firm but can ask for another solicitor at the current firm to take over.

There is a delay at the search offices due to the Covid back log.

If you do not have all the correct searches done by a solicitor you have no comeback later on if a problem arises. A new build does not guarantee building permission has been granted with an exclusion, or followed building plans, building control etc.

Has any correspondence from the solicitor had 'without ' prejudice' W.P. written on the top?

I suggest you write in Solicitor language. Brief with the relevant facts.
Your ref. no.
Dear .....
Further to receipt of your email/date and year
Completion of this property is on .....
I trust you will have completed all the relevant searches.
I look forward to your response within (2 working days) or (at the very earliest opportunity)

If you do not get a reply ask for the firms complaint procedure.

Find out from the Estate Agent by letter the exact date you need to sign and the searches need to be done by. Get a written statement from him confirming he will hold the property for you. Keep it professional. He is surely bound to mention it to his wife.

I am nearly bald tearing my hair out with solicitors. They leave everything to the last minute. Be ready for the searches to arrive on the day of completion with a bill!

From your post I can tell you are a friendly person so it hard to get into the harsh serious professional mode.

Good luck.

Do think we are now forced into 'project managing' ourselves, despite large sums of money we pay to solicitors for conveyancing.
I think you need to inform your Solicitor of your time-frame, let them know NOW the date you want Completion. Gives them the knowledge that they have to keep your file at the top.

You don't have to have searches done at all by law, but you don't have any comeback obviously if you find out something awful afterwards.

Tell her you want everything else ready to sign and exchange by the end of next week and then you will decide whether to wait for the searches.

You can go ahead with the purchase and get the searches done after. It's taking a risk but if all the others on site have come up fine it's probably a small risk. Not being able to sell in future is wrong because any prospective purchaser will have their own searches done. Yours will be irrelevant. The only time that counts is if your searches turn up something untoward that makes your property hard to sell.

You could instruct her to go ahead with all the other paperwork and not to delay. The reason solicitors wait for searches is do that you dont spend more money if the search is negative and you pull out.

I hope that makes sense.

Just heard from builder and he has rung estate agent, who has rung his wife, who has said it is all going as fast as possible.....hmmmm.

I do think the searches are a joke - there are 8 new builds on the site and 7 different solicitors have all done searches on the same plot and all come up fine - now an eighth solicitor is going to get paid to do exactly the same thing all over again, and to delay the purchse. Sigh.

Can you speak to the estate agent? I realise it’s his wife, but could he not reassure the builder all is underway.

She's emailed back basically saying that if I do not have searches done I could finish up with an unsaleable house in the future. I do not know how true this is. It is a new build with people queuing up for it.

My question is why has it taken 6 weeks to even initiate the searches? This aspect could all have been done and dusted by now if she had got on with it.

I think I will have a chat with my son-in-law, who lets 3 properties so clearly has a grip on the process of buying.

The road leading up to our house, and the neighbours next door was on neither of our deeds. Jointly, we employed a solicitor to find out who owned it. He did all the searches, contacted previous landowners, and had papers signed, so far so good.
Last hurdle, the Land Registry. It's with them now. This has been going on for three years.
We've paid one bill. I dread to think what the final bill will amount to.

Lucky, I hope it's all sorted out for you soon. Just keep plugging away at your solicitor. I would phone daily as others have suggested.

This is what I have sent:

"Re.: Searches

I have been looking at this online and wondering if, as there is no mortgage company involved in my transaction, it is absolutely necessary for these to be undertaken? I am aware of the absence of planning applications impinging on Malferna View, I know the road is publicly maintained, I have checked it is not in a flood risk area, and I presume subsidence is not an issue as planning permission would not have been forthcoming for this new build if it had been.

The grape vine tells me that the builder is getting twitchy about the delay and I will need to fend him off if he gets in touch, as he often does. He could sell the property several times over I know, so I cannot afford to render my wish to buy unattractive to him by asking him to wait any longer than is absolutely necessary.

I wonder if you could copy me in to all correspondence as it happens so that at the very least I have some concrete information to pass on if he gets in touch.

I do think that speed is absolutely of the essence here, or I will lose the property."

midgey - the weeping in her presence may not be a conscious choice, but more an inevitability; I am absolutely at the end of my tether here.

Luckygirl you could always weep a bit in her presence! Hopefully that might shift her. Hope you get your new home soon.

We've had similar experiences with conveyancing solicitors. They just do not seem to have any understanding of the need for urgency.

How about 'getting human' with her? Get real with her, cut through all the "posing" and "politeness code" and tell her that her tardiness is driving you nuts and ask why is she being so slow?

It makes me so when people take your money and deliver at their leisure.

It's so frustration for you.

We bought a business and a meeting was arranged at which we, the vendors and both solicitors would meet and sign all the papers etc. The solicitors duly arrived and said "Now which way shall we do this?" They clearly hadn't done any preparation. Similarly, we bought a house from friends who were emigrating. The solicitor gave us a completion date for after the vendors had sailed.

They seem to be a 'law' unto themselves. I should start drafting the strong letter of complaint that you are going to send once everything is settled. If nothing else, it might give you some satisfaction deciding exactly what to say.

I hope she pulls her finger out soon.

It is so hard as she knows all this - I have told her that the builder will not wait for ever and time is indeed of the essence; and also that I want this done and dusted before the risk of a second virus wave and she just says she knows all this.

It is a bit difficult as she is the wife of the estate agent who has fought my corner with diligence to get the builder to hold the new property for me. I used her because I thought she might have a vested interest in getting the job done quickly.

I have found her rather frosty to deal with.

I think that if I change solicitors it will just delay things all the more because the new person would have to start from scratch - and no doubt the first solicitor would bill me for the work she has done. I am on a tight budget here.

This has been a difficult year for me and I just do not have the strength to give her hell - I would finish up in tears.

Luckygirl, could you not use the phrase " Time is of the essence", in your next contact with her? It may work.

Change your solicitor! Might not help though.

Phone every day and ask for an update. I'm serious!

You won't always get the solicitor but the message will be relayed to her. Ask for timescales for the next step. "And when will you have looked at the searches and report to me." If she prevaricates, set your own. "So let's say next Friday" or whatever.

She will do your work first because you are a nuisance. Remember you are paying her.

Incidentally searches are now on line and easily accessible. You don't have to send off and wait for them to come back.