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FTB - our solicitor will not act for us due to 'undertakings', HELP!

Hi everyone,

Really desperate for some help and advice if anyone knows anything about this? We are FTB's; we found our perfect house in June and got our mortgage offer last week (Beacon Homeloans). We were so relieved when we got that, thinking all the hard work had been done, and we were hoping to sign our contracts this week. That will teach us for being so optimistic!

Yesterday I get a call from our solicitor, saying that they will not act for us anymore. They have recieved a list of 'requisitions and undertakings' from Beacon's solicitors - I've never heard of this before but it just looks like a standard document to be honest, asking our solicitors to guarantee that they will send the money within 5 days etc. There are also a few questions about whether any alterations have been carried out at the property etc, whether it is used for anything other than residential use, (which has all been answered by the HIP and survey anyway). BUT from what I can gather, for some reason our solicitors are not willing to do these 'undertakings' and fill the form in. They said we have 2 options - to try and find another mortgage, or find another solicitor. Finding another mortgage is not an option - Beacon were the only company who would consider us - so now we have to find another solicitor. Just panicking a bit now, worrying that if one firm won't do it, nobody else will either. Can you buy a house without a solicitor? lol.

To add insult to injury, the first lot said they will be sending us a bill for the work they've already done - so now we will end up with 2 legal bills instead of one, assuming we can find a new solicitor! Can we refuse to pay this? We hired them to complete our house sale for us, and they haven't done it! :(

Really upset about it, and stressed out. If anyone has knowledge/experience of anything similar, any advice at all would be appreciated! Thanks x

Attempting to pay off our debts! Balances Jan 2018 -
Family member £3,700 - Virgin CC £1,000 - MBNA £1,700 - Barclaycard £2,500 (was £2,700) - Halifax CC £1,280
13

Comments

  • dunstonh
    dunstonh Posts: 118,551 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    To add insult to injury, the first lot said they will be sending us a bill for the work they've already done - so now we will end up with 2 legal bills instead of one, assuming we can find a new solicitor! Can we refuse to pay this?

    No. You are required to pay it as they have done work and are entitled to be paid for that work. They are having to withdraw as the requirements set out by Beacon's solicitors are not able to be met by your one. I would suggest you find out which items on the list your solicitor feels it is not able to undertake. It may be that Beacon's solicitors will waive that item.

    It would be unusual for a solicitor to withdraw like this. A small lender may have some silly rules or poor wording that some solicitors may not like. So, the problem may not be your solicitor but theirs.
    I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.
  • McKneff
    McKneff Posts: 38,857 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Have they said why they wont do these 'undertaking' if not i think they should.
    make the most of it, we are only here for the weekend.
    and we will never, ever return.
  • Thanks all - after my panicked post this morning we've hopefully found new solicitors who are willing to take us on, fingers crossed! Having spoken to solicitors at our mortgage broker's office, and also the solicitors who our estate agent uses, it seems there is no legal reason why the work can't be done. They have dealt with Beacon before and said they are well known for being quite demanding when it comes to providing information and documents, but it is all above board - it will just take a bit more work.
    dunstonh wrote: »
    No. You are required to pay it as they have done work and are entitled to be paid for that work. They are having to withdraw as the requirements set out by Beacon's solicitors are not able to be met by your one. I would suggest you find out which items on the list your solicitor feels it is not able to undertake. It may be that Beacon's solicitors will waive that item.

    It would be unusual for a solicitor to withdraw like this. A small lender may have some silly rules or poor wording that some solicitors may not like. So, the problem may not be your solicitor but theirs.

    Thanks for your input, I know you're probably right but it just seems so unfair :( I might be being very cynical, but from what other solicitors have said, it seems to me that our original firm just couldn't be bothered to do what needed doing. Maybe they thought it would be a straightforward transaction, but then found out about this extra work and decided it was not worth their fee. Either way it seems very unfair that a solicitor can just pick and choose what they do like this, when they have already taken our case on. Our original solicitors fees were £600 - I'd imagine we'll still have to pay about £500 of this for the work they had already done AND now we have to start the conveyancing all over again which will probably cost us another £600. We have done absolutely nothing wrong, and it seems extremely unfair that we now have to pay 2 legal bills because our original solicitors decided halfway through the proceedings that they did not want to work for us anymore. How can they get away with that, when £600 is nearly a month's wages for me :(

    Attempting to pay off our debts! Balances Jan 2018 -
    Family member £3,700 - Virgin CC £1,000 - MBNA £1,700 - Barclaycard £2,500 (was £2,700) - Halifax CC £1,280
    13
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