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Buyers strange request. Is she a fraudster?
deckard3001
Posts: 23 Forumite
Hi folks.
About six weeks ago I accepted an offer on my house (much lower than I wanted!) I know she is buying it as an investment along with several others from the same estate agents and this suited me fine.
Today my agent rang to inform me that the buyer wants me to change MY solicitor to one of her choice!
I can't figure out why, nor can my agent or current solicitor, who I am happy with and will owe a fair amount of money.
She did hint to my agent that it's to do with her mortgage and she's offered to pay my solicitor fees (unsure if that includes paying my current one.) My agent is trying to get from her the reasons for this odd request.
Has anyone had this? Is it a reasonable request? Is she money laundering? What the heck should I do?
About six weeks ago I accepted an offer on my house (much lower than I wanted!) I know she is buying it as an investment along with several others from the same estate agents and this suited me fine.
Today my agent rang to inform me that the buyer wants me to change MY solicitor to one of her choice!
I can't figure out why, nor can my agent or current solicitor, who I am happy with and will owe a fair amount of money.
She did hint to my agent that it's to do with her mortgage and she's offered to pay my solicitor fees (unsure if that includes paying my current one.) My agent is trying to get from her the reasons for this odd request.
Has anyone had this? Is it a reasonable request? Is she money laundering? What the heck should I do?
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Comments
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You don't live in North-West London do you?0
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Might be something like falsifying the purchase price to get a better LTV on the mortgage.
I'm not sure whether you'd get in trouble or just her but it doesn't sound great does it.Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
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I'd stick to what your choice of solicitor is, sounds most odd to me.
Or you could ask for written evidence from her mortgage people as to why and how this relates to her mortgage.Breast Cancer Now 100 miles October 2022 100 / 100miles
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I'd refuse outright.
Your solicitors should be acting in your best interests and not hers.0 -
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Doozergirl wrote: »Might be something like falsifying the purchase price to get a better LTV on the mortgage.
I'm not sure whether you'd get in trouble or just her but it doesn't sound great does it.
Yeah, I just can't figure out her motives. I certainly can't come up with any honest ideas!0 -
Don't touch this with a bargepole. You are laying yourself wide open in case anything "unusual" is going on. There is no reason why a solicitor is any more honest than the rest of the population, but at least if anything goes wrong you can usually, in theory, claim from the solicitor's indemnity insurance. In this case though I fear the indemnity people would just laugh at you as you have been a party to this.
terryw"If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools"
Extract from "If" by Rudyard Kipling0 -
deckard3001 wrote: »Today my agent rang to inform me that the buyer wants me to change MY solicitor to one of her choice!
Sounds strange, never heard of this. As Troubled_Joe says, the reason you instruct a solicitor is to act in your best interests. If you're using her solicitor, you are leaving yourself open to compromise.0 -
Perhaps I am wrong here but I am sure it used to be the case that there would be a conflict of interests if both parties were to use the same solicitor in this case. The buyer is effectively using 2 solicitors then. One for the conveyancing and one for the other 'arrangements' perhaps.0
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Keep to the one you've got. Sounds well dodgy0
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