Who does my Solicitor work for?

WolfUK

Hi

My first post here so please be gentle! I'm in the middle of buying my first flat. It is a Leasehold property and all has been going well thus far (which is new for me since I have already had 2 pervious failed purchase) That was until this week when the Solicitor told me he thinks the lease is defective.

In brief he says the services charges are not clearly laid out in the Lease at the start of the lease there are “three” heads of service but in the middle of the lease it only refers to “two”. He has said I will need a deed of variation to correct this issue. I have told him I already know the service charge and ground rent and thus don’t really care about this please go ahead and I will sort it out later as the deed would put me over the 31st of December thus Stamp duty of £1,740 will apply.

He said he can’t do that as he also has to look out for the mortgage lender! Even though the valuation has come back fine as he has to give them a certificate or something. This strikes me as odd because I’m paying him not the Halifax!

Also there are over 100 flats in the development and I find it hard to believe that my solicitor is the only person to discover this defect! The landlord is part of the “RSL” so should already be aware of this and have a fix in place?

I’m just not sure of my right and what to do in this case…..please help!

Thanks

Rich

ILW

Sounds like he is doing a pretty good job to me. Bet if sometime in the furure you find you are solely responsible for the roof, you would be the first to complain about the solicitor not doing his job. If you cannot agree, pay him off and appont another less careful lawyer.

Hippychick

Your solicitor is acting for both you and your mortgage lender. Your lender will not lend the money if a lease is defective without it being corrected or sufficient indemnity in place.

Surely it is better for the issue to be resolved now at the sellers expense rather than at yours should you decide to sell.

Best thing to do would be to chat to your sol and see how quickly he can sort it for you.

WolfUK

Your right I can't complain about his work thus far. I just did not know it worked this way him working for my lender too I just though the valuation was that part.

Also would the cost of the Stamp duty be more than the cost of the deed.....I don't think so....so in the long run I will be out of pocket......I have already lost over £1,000 when I got guzzumped on a repo flat.

I just seem to run into one issue after another with every flat I want to buy! I hope that the landlord has seen this defect which is only "wording" and has somthing in place but if he did then why did we not have it in the frist place?

PeoplesChampion

Sounds like a great solicitor- recomend him to others on https://www.solicitor.info

Amanita_2

WolfUK wrote: »

I just seem to run into one issue after another with every flat I want to buy! I hope that the landlord has seen this defect which is only "wording" and has somthing in place but if he did then why did we not have it in the frist place?

It may be only "wording" to you but if there are problems in the future then this "wording" will become vitally important.

I've bought and sold several times and there is always "something". The last time it was mine workings and a house with wall ties.

Fire_Fox

Your solicitor works in your interests, but he also has a duty to act ethically and within the law. So if you give him £25K in used bank notes, he has a duty to check that the money came from a legitimate source and you didn't rob a bank or pimp out crack wh*res!

A defective lease will cause you problems in the future, and certainly will cause the lender problems if he needs to repossess: effectively it reduces the value of the property as it stands. Not at all sure why, as an FTB, you have employed an experienced professional and then want to ignore his advice?? You are spending tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of pounds - leasehold purchases are notoriously slow to complete, you should really have done your homework on this matter at a much earlier stage.

I think you may find it helpful to appraise yourself with the enormous amount of legislation surrounding leasehold properties:
http://www.lease-advice.org/publications/documents/

Cannon_Fodder

Can just see the thread in two years time;

"my solicitor said something about dodgy lease, but I wanted to save £1700 stamp duty, and now I have this liability that was not clarified until I came to sell, and apparently I owe £4,000! Please help me avoid this"...

WolfUK

[QUOTE=_you_should_really_have_done_your_homework_on_this_matter_at_a_much_earlier_stage.[/QUOTE]

This is not a very constructive comment! being in surrey there are only Leashold flats in my price bracket. Also I know they take sometime and this has been on going since Auguest!

Also with the ammount of flats in the block it seems odd that this was not raised before. Please stop bashing my thread I was just looking for advice.

terryw

Is it not worth having a quick word with the leaseholder to try and see if any other buyer has had this problem? You may be helping them if they don't know about the problem you're having as, after all, they will have presumably paid large solicitor's fees for having the lease drawn up in the first place.

WolfUK

TerryW

This is what I'm trying to do at present. But the leaseholder won't deal with me as i'm not a "tennent" so i'm having to do this via the vendor.