House Buying Nightmare - Useless Solicitors

clockley_2

Sorry for the rant - though I have calmed down since this afternoon, I am still angry and want to get my experiences down so someone might learn or offer advise. Some of you may have seen my post back in April when I was already 3 months into my house purchase. At that time I had a number of problems which I'll repeat here in italics.

• Property found and offer of £2000 less than asking price accepted and sale went ahead. A condition was placed on the offer that a rear fence was to be fixed which was agreed by the vendor.
  
• My central London solicitor advised I use someone closer. I was advised by the estate agent (Bairstowe Eves) that things would move faster if I used the same solicitor as the vendor. I agreed and was signed up with Countrywide Property Lawyers (who I later found out are affiliated with Bairstowe Eves) When the paperwork came through it suggested the vendors lawyer was someone else entirely and the estate agent just said he agreed to use Countrywide, then changed his mind.
  
• As sale was almost complete the vendor was evicted by Nationwide (his lender). I was assured by the EA that this was not a problem. The vendor was given a deadline and should he not sell by then, they would take on the sale, and the transition would be straight forward.
  
• The deadline came (as everyone dragged their feet), Nationwide gave a weeks extention. Vendor quibbled over required works, delaying further and Nationwide repossessed the property fully.
  
• Despite what the EA told us, the property went back on the market, at £3000 more than the original asking price. I was told that Nationwide were not accepting offers for two weeks.
  
• A couple of days later, the EA called my partner suggesting that if we offered our original offer it would be accepted, even though I had no formal indication that my original offer had been declined.

AND NOW....

Since then, no-one else made an offer and ours was accepted. The sale started again, thankfully all the paperwork was done so things moved relatively quickly. Contracts came which we sent back. The solicitor told us we had to pay their fees or no further work could be done.

Setting up a CHAPS transfer with my bank, TSB I was ready to get moving. Three days later I called the solicitor to confirm we were ready to exchange, only to be told they were waiting for our funds.

TSB revealed they had "forgotten" to process the transfer, but had the paperwork and would do it straight away.

Solicitor got the money and set a date for exchange (last Friday 2nd June) and completion today (9th June) We were ready to spend the weekend painting and moving. It was the last hurdle. We got confirmation that the mortgage funds had arrived...then the solicitor paid the money to the wrong solicitor. We went crazy and demanded action. It was 3pm and there was still time to get the money transferred back and into the right hands. By 5pm we were assured that the money had been returned and was now with Nationwide's solicitors. We should expect a call from the EA to hand over the keys. We checked with the EA (of course, all management had gone home and the staff are next to useless) who in turn contacted Nationwide - the money had NOT arrived. Calling back the solicitors, they told us the lawyers had gone home (5pm! Who said Lawyers have to work late?!) but they checked with their accounts dept and confirmed that the money had been resent...to the same wrong solicitor!

How on earth can a firm of solicitors be so incompetent. If you are transferring 183000, would you not double check you had the right destination????

I am in despair...now we have to wait til monday for a resolution and I can't help regretting following Bairstow Eves advice and moving over to Countrywide Property Lawyers, who I am hoping will be reimbursing some of their fees, especially considering I am now paying interest on a mortgage for a property I can't get into!

Any thoughts?

david29dpo

your first problem was using countrywide, they are the pits.i will never use them again and i highly recommend that nobody else does. sorry.

chloejane_2

omg i feel really sorry for you, i dont know what to say only countrywide were our buyers choice and they left us in a right mess by not processing all their paper work and as far as we knew we were moving on the 12 april, at lunch time on the 12 april while we were being packed by removals firm it was discovered they were not going to complete, and didnt think we needed to be told!!!! the story goes on but its not relavent here, just wanted to say how sorry i am for you and its because of the same company!!

Bossyboots

Okay, first off I would suggest that no-one ever uses solicitors recommended by estate agents. They aren't recommending them for nothing. Use solicitors recommended by someone you trust.

Secondly, I would be looking for the solicitors to be paying the interest on the mortgage up until completion. To be honest, I would consider this an extremely serious matter and not let it rest at completion. You need to make a formal complaint about this, work out exactly what costs you have incurred and present them will a bill for payment. If they have any sense, they will pay it without question. Bear in mind though that you may be served with a Notice to Complete and charged interest from your vendor. Make sure you know what that is going to cost as well, although your solicitors may automatically pay that from their own pocket as it is they who failed to complete, not you. Also, how long is your chain? Is there a possibility of costs incurred higher up the chain being passed onto you?

In all honesty, while it is true that people are only human and everyone makes mistakes, this is not one that should have been made the first time, never mind the second. Sending client money to the wrong place at any time is serious, when it is completion monies and is done incorrectly twice, there is simply no excuse.

You need to take this in stages to get restitution and although I usually baulk at the compensation culture in this country I do believe this is a scenario where it is justified to seek a sum in addition to your actual costs. You may be able to convince them that they should waive their fee. I think it is the least they can do. Your first step therefore is to get completion done but I would over the weekend compose a letter to your solicitors informing them that you are holding them liable for all losses you have incurred on this transaction because of their mistake so that they are put on notice immediately of the position. Use the weekend to get working out what those costs are so far and if you use a spreadsheet, leave lines open for the potential costs. What you do after that really depends on their attitude and what they do. Perhaps you could post back next week with an update and then we can advise further from there, rather than list every hypothetical response and solution.

Can you confirm whether any of the partners in this firm are actually qualified solicitors. I can see no mention on their website that that is the case.

linlin_3

If I remember correctly, Bairstow Eves first started in Essex where they quickly became known as Liars and Thieves! I wouldn't touch them or anyone recommended by them.

Me_Myself_2

I think the general comment not to use a solicitor recommended by the EA is unfair. Several of our local EAs recommend our (small one-man-band firm) not because they are affiliated or get profit in any way from the recommendation, but bcause we are good. On the otherhand, I have heard many complaints about the larger solicitors such as countrywide. Plus the staff at Beresford Adams who have several offices in our area have been told now that they can only 'recommend' Countrywide. Grrrr.

wilburpig

linlin wrote:

If I remember correctly, Bairstow Eves first started in Essex where they quickly became known as Liars and Thieves! I wouldn't touch them or anyone recommended by them.

I lived in Essex and they were referred to as b*stard Thieves too:rotfl:

clockley_2

What annoys me most is that I was mislead that the vendor was using Countrywide and that's why we should use them. I specifically stated I wanted to use the same solicitor as the vendor, being assured that this would speed up the process (though have been told since that this is illegal) and after signing up with Countrywide, was told that they were "confused" and thought the vendor was with Countrywide as well.

In answer to Bossyboots, many thanks for the advise. I was planning to complain after completion and you have given some good advice.

As for the Notice to Complete, it is likely that we are to complete by Monday (one working day later than planned)..is this charge likely to be made for such?
Thankfully we have no chain - the original vendor was evicted so the house is empty, and our current flat is empty and we are not giving notice until we have completed.

As for whether the partners are qualified or not, I don't know for sure. When we call (and throughout the process this has been many times as we continually have to chase them) we get customer services. We are assigned a solicitor, which we know by name (and have never been able to speak to directly until completion was imminent) but all we know of his qualifications is by the title they have told us.

Also, as for the letter, should we list all our complaints initially or wait for some response first?

Thanks again,

Craig

clutton_2

the law society can tell you if this person is a fully qualified solicitor, or, you could just ask him or her

regularsaver1

i can't believe they sent the funds to the wrong solicitor - TWICE, how on earth did they manage that

i hope they give you some compensation

Me_Myself_2

RS1 is right - Unbelievable - Total incompetence