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Problem with sale of flat
Liz3yy
Posts: 1,301 Forumite
Hi, I dont know if this is the right place for this but....
In May 2008 ago I sold my old flat in Essex, it took 13 months to sell due to a problem with cracking in the building that needed sorting out. Put simply the building was constructed on land that wasnt sound and eventually led the building moving slightly in one corner and causing cracks in some flats. I found a buyer despite the cracks but was asked to withhold £1,500 from the sale price in case the buyer had to pay anything towards the costs of fixing it. I was happy with this as I wanted the flat sold.
In early Jan this year I received a cheque from my lawyers saying "here is a cheque for the full rentention amount" I thought they had returned it to me as the works had been sorted and no money was needed for it.
I then recieved a futher letter two weeks ago asking me to send the cheque to the buyer as she would need it to pay for the works being carried out.
I was furious as I assumed (maybe wrongly) that the money was mine as there was nothing to say what I should do with it. I'm wondering why the cheque was sent to me and not direct to the buyer? surely that is the lawyers job? I wrote them a letter to complain and almost a week later received a reply apologising and saying they were investigating?
What the hell is going on and am I right in being so upset?
In May 2008 ago I sold my old flat in Essex, it took 13 months to sell due to a problem with cracking in the building that needed sorting out. Put simply the building was constructed on land that wasnt sound and eventually led the building moving slightly in one corner and causing cracks in some flats. I found a buyer despite the cracks but was asked to withhold £1,500 from the sale price in case the buyer had to pay anything towards the costs of fixing it. I was happy with this as I wanted the flat sold.
In early Jan this year I received a cheque from my lawyers saying "here is a cheque for the full rentention amount" I thought they had returned it to me as the works had been sorted and no money was needed for it.
I then recieved a futher letter two weeks ago asking me to send the cheque to the buyer as she would need it to pay for the works being carried out.
I was furious as I assumed (maybe wrongly) that the money was mine as there was nothing to say what I should do with it. I'm wondering why the cheque was sent to me and not direct to the buyer? surely that is the lawyers job? I wrote them a letter to complain and almost a week later received a reply apologising and saying they were investigating?
What the hell is going on and am I right in being so upset?
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I wrote them a letter to complain and almost a week later received a reply apologising and saying they were investigating?
What the hell is going on and am I right in being so upset?
Calm down and think about it!
If the solicitors apologised then presumably they are trying to find out what went wrong.
As you evidently haven't yet spent the money and you knew it was possible that the retention would be paid out to your buyer, you haven't really suffered any actual loss, other than the annoyance of finding that your solicitor appears to have been inefficient.
I would expect them to apologise further and possibly to make some small offer of recompense for your injured feelings - perhaps £50-£100 or a free will.RICHARD WEBSTER
As a retired conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful assuming any properties concerned are in England/Wales but I accept no liability for it.0
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