Solicitor signing contract on my behalf....?

frankor2

Hi,
I have a quick enquiry......I paid a deposit to secure a flat off plan.
Then paid 10% deposit....through the solicitor recommended by the developer.
That solicitor signed the contract on my behalf and exchanged....I am based overseas and didnt go to his office. Can you let me know what i should've provided to that solicitor to allow him sign on my behalf....the whole process was rather rushed and I didnt sign the contract....any escape from this??

clutton_2

i suspect you should have signed some form of "Authority" for the solicitor to act on your behalf - or maybe a Power of Attorney - did you sign anything like that ?

has it is all gone wrong ?

frankor2

no it's just that i'd like to pull out of the sale and get the deposit back...!
I didnt sign a thing...it was all done through email...i'm probably clutching at straws but i feel it could be worth a go!!

Richard_Webster

As far as the developer is concerned the contract will be binding because the solicitor would have ostensible authority to sign on OP's behalf.

It is possible, depending on the content of the e-mails etc between the solicitor and OP, that there was insufficient explanation of what was involved. The solicitor should have made sure that he had actual authority to sign from OP. If the binding nature of the contract once signed and exchanged was not made clear then possible OP might be able to sue the solicitor.

If I was going to sign a contract for a buywer client, I would either want a power of attorney or a letter containing the client's signature faxed to me.

tenke

Hmm, I think after exchange, there's no way back...

If you signed the power of attorney, basically that means the solicitor has the power to act on your behalf in the legal matters of the buying...

Maybe more people can throw more light on this:hello:

Richard_Webster

As far as the developer is concerned the contract will be binding because the solicitor would have ostensible authority to sign on OP's behalf.

It is possible, depending on the content of the e-mails etc between the solicitor and OP, that there was insufficient explanation of what was involved. The solicitor should have made sure that he had actual authority to sign from OP. If the binding nature of the contract once signed and exchanged was not made clear then possible OP might be able to sue the solicitor.

If I was going to sign a contract for a buyer client, I would either want a power of attorney or a clear letter of authority containing the client's signature faxed to me.

frankor2

Richard_Webster wrote: »

As far as the developer is concerned the contract will be binding because the solicitor would have ostensible authority to sign on OP's behalf.

It is possible, depending on the content of the e-mails etc between the solicitor and OP, that there was insufficient explanation of what was involved. The solicitor should have made sure that he had actual authority to sign from OP. If the binding nature of the contract once signed and exchanged was not made clear then possible OP might be able to sue the solicitor.

If I was going to sign a contract for a buyer client, I would either want a power of attorney or a clear letter of authority containing the client's signature faxed to me.

I have emailed the solicitor i used looking for the exchange of emails around the time of the deal.....I havent heard back yet. I didnt sign anything, no POA, I may have said ..."you can go ahead and sign the contract" in an email but i'm not sure.

I propose to wait to get the emails ( i have my IT person looking for the emails on my side...I have them somewhere!) and then see exactly what was said.

At the time, January 2007, the market was booming and everything was going up and I didnt pay too much attention to the deal. Now that things have changed, I need to see where I stand as obviously I am looking to get out of the deal and ideally, get the deposit back which was a significant sum!

Ultimately I need to wait then take advice from an independent solicitor in England.

Thanks for the replies so far.