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Countrywide 'Property Lawyers' - any way of speeding things up?
Welsh_Totster
Posts: 527 Forumite
Background:
Accepted offer on our house on 9th October 2009, buyer (a friend) decided to go with his EA rec of Countrywide for his conveyancing. Big mistake, although we were unaware at the time. We had an offer accepted on a house 14 days later, all was fine. We had a good survey which pointed out £30ks worth of work, we pulled out of buying. We had an offer accepted on a different property 14 days after that. Survey ok and going ahead. Countrywide had already had 4 weeks head start on the paperwork.
Our HIP ran out second week of November as our house was first marketed in November 2008, so some searches needed re-doing although nothing had changed in that time. Countrywide (as we later found out) did nothing about that at the time. Our Solicitor had real problems contacting them as the 'caseworker' wouldnt talk to him and the 'team' seemed to know nothing about the sale half the time.
Anyway end of November our solicitor has got everything ready for signing, searches, contracts, mortgage, TR1 all done he asked us when we would like to complete and we said before Christmas, to avoid stamp duty. We signed everything and he said there shouldn't be a problem as there was nearly 4 weeks to exchange and complete. Basically he had got everything done and ready in 4 weeks, fab.
It wasn't until I spoke with our buyer about completion dates (he agreed with me and our vendors on a completion of 18th Dec) he told Countrywide and they said there were a couple of searches to still come back, they wouldn't commit to anything. It wasn't until after a lot of chasing from our solicitor, us and our buyer that we sussed out that the two searches were LA and water/sewerage that should probably have been applied for a month previously. The water search came back on the 14th Dec and they said the LA search was due back on 16th, they(CW) also added that buyers bank wanted 10 working days notice to release funds.
The 18th came and went and Countrywide said that the LA search still wasn't back. We kissed goodbye to a pre christmas move and said hello to a £1600 stamp duty bill. My husband called the LA on 23rd Dec to ask about the search, they informed him that originally the search had been requested for the wrong property (a flat from the block next door but one to us) but then Countrywide asked for the right address. There was no way that the search would every have been back by 16th, so CW were lying. LA said that it would be ready first week of January.
Our buyer in the meantime was still chasing them and they still wouldn't commit to anything. Our Solicitor was getting more cheesed off by the minute. Our buyer had also seen his mortgage advisor to ask about the 10 working days notice, to which the MA said they needed 24 hours, 48 at the most, CW were lying.
So The LA search was back last Wednesday 6th Jan and CW said they need to check it but we could possibly exchange this week and complete next week. CW had told our solicitor this too. However they still wouldn't commit to a date or even when the search would be checked and still insisted on the 10 days notice for release of funds.
So today we have spoken with our solicitor who has chased CW everyday for a week and he has heard nothing from them at all.
So...... if you're still here after reading all that.... thanks for sticking with me, What if anything can we do to speed things up to at least get an exchange date?
They've had 3 1/2 months now to sort this out when our solicitor got everything done in 4 1/2 weeks!
We have deliveries waiting for the new house that we keep having to postpone, luckily we have nice vendors that have already moved out but don't want to be paying 2 mortgages if they can help it.
Help, please we are slowly loosing the will to live! :mad:
Accepted offer on our house on 9th October 2009, buyer (a friend) decided to go with his EA rec of Countrywide for his conveyancing. Big mistake, although we were unaware at the time. We had an offer accepted on a house 14 days later, all was fine. We had a good survey which pointed out £30ks worth of work, we pulled out of buying. We had an offer accepted on a different property 14 days after that. Survey ok and going ahead. Countrywide had already had 4 weeks head start on the paperwork.
Our HIP ran out second week of November as our house was first marketed in November 2008, so some searches needed re-doing although nothing had changed in that time. Countrywide (as we later found out) did nothing about that at the time. Our Solicitor had real problems contacting them as the 'caseworker' wouldnt talk to him and the 'team' seemed to know nothing about the sale half the time.
Anyway end of November our solicitor has got everything ready for signing, searches, contracts, mortgage, TR1 all done he asked us when we would like to complete and we said before Christmas, to avoid stamp duty. We signed everything and he said there shouldn't be a problem as there was nearly 4 weeks to exchange and complete. Basically he had got everything done and ready in 4 weeks, fab.
It wasn't until I spoke with our buyer about completion dates (he agreed with me and our vendors on a completion of 18th Dec) he told Countrywide and they said there were a couple of searches to still come back, they wouldn't commit to anything. It wasn't until after a lot of chasing from our solicitor, us and our buyer that we sussed out that the two searches were LA and water/sewerage that should probably have been applied for a month previously. The water search came back on the 14th Dec and they said the LA search was due back on 16th, they(CW) also added that buyers bank wanted 10 working days notice to release funds.
The 18th came and went and Countrywide said that the LA search still wasn't back. We kissed goodbye to a pre christmas move and said hello to a £1600 stamp duty bill. My husband called the LA on 23rd Dec to ask about the search, they informed him that originally the search had been requested for the wrong property (a flat from the block next door but one to us) but then Countrywide asked for the right address. There was no way that the search would every have been back by 16th, so CW were lying. LA said that it would be ready first week of January.
Our buyer in the meantime was still chasing them and they still wouldn't commit to anything. Our Solicitor was getting more cheesed off by the minute. Our buyer had also seen his mortgage advisor to ask about the 10 working days notice, to which the MA said they needed 24 hours, 48 at the most, CW were lying.
So The LA search was back last Wednesday 6th Jan and CW said they need to check it but we could possibly exchange this week and complete next week. CW had told our solicitor this too. However they still wouldn't commit to a date or even when the search would be checked and still insisted on the 10 days notice for release of funds.
So today we have spoken with our solicitor who has chased CW everyday for a week and he has heard nothing from them at all.
So...... if you're still here after reading all that.... thanks for sticking with me, What if anything can we do to speed things up to at least get an exchange date?
They've had 3 1/2 months now to sort this out when our solicitor got everything done in 4 1/2 weeks!
We have deliveries waiting for the new house that we keep having to postpone, luckily we have nice vendors that have already moved out but don't want to be paying 2 mortgages if they can help it.
Help, please we are slowly loosing the will to live! :mad:
0
Comments
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Hiya
Used to work as an EA for Countrywide....
Call your estate agent and get them to do the chasing....they should be doing this anyway but get onto them and make them do more. They can get through to the people who are dealing directly with the transaction.
Who is your solicitor at CW? Which conveyancing office are you with? Last i checked they still had Cardiff and Manchester although dont know if thats changed now. email them directly and ask for a response.
Your EA will be your best bet as they can stamp their feet more - get in touch with the office manager if your contact at the EA either cant help or doesnt feel confident enough.
HTH£2 Savers Club #156!
Looking for holiday ideas for 2016. Currently, Isle of Skye in March, Riga in May, Crete in June and Lake District in October. August cruise cancelled, but Baby due September 2016! :j0 -
I have an independent solicitor, its my buyer that's with Countrywide. They do have an office in Cardiff and my buyer lives around the corner from the office, he is in almost daily conversation with his 'case worker' they just don't commit to anything even when he visits the office. Our EA, and even our vendors EA have chased them. My Solicitor chases them everyday for info, and on a couple of occasions he was told that he wasn't allowed to talk to the caseworker and put the phone down on him! He asked for the office manager and they told him they didn't have one. He was getting no where fast.
As it happens Ive just had a call from our buyer who has managed to get hold of his caseworker and she said that the search has been checked and now she wants the file to be checked over by a 'senior lawyer' Lord knows how long that's going to take. She said as everyone in the chain has everything in place and ready to go then the next step is exchange. Hurrah! Everyone else has been ready to exchange since the begining of December.
I'm not holding my breath. Thanks for replying though!0 -
Sorry - i thought you said you were both using CWPL!
They have a turnaround time of 3 working days for each file although usually do manage to get it done quicker than that. I used to deal with the Cardiff office and found that they were hit and miss although i was known as being a pain in the !!!! if i didnt get the updates i wanted as an EA so i was assigned one of the senior case handlers to speak to in the end so that i wouldnt keep on calling with impossible questions! lol. Worked for me as i got what i wanted and they didnt have me calling every 5 mins!
Get the EA to call and chase exchange - Im sure theyre probably doing this anyway as they'll want to get paid asap but if they know you're on their back then they should give you an update quicker! Fingers crossed by this time next week you'll be exchanged and on the way to completion!£2 Savers Club #156!
Looking for holiday ideas for 2016. Currently, Isle of Skye in March, Riga in May, Crete in June and Lake District in October. August cruise cancelled, but Baby due September 2016! :j0 -
Lisa, thanks for the reply. My buyer has chased them, my solicitor and EA has chased them, we have chased them, our vendor has chased them and so has our vendors solicitor. The update since my last post is nothing, even though our buyer was promised a call from the senior bod dealing with it all yesterday. No call, nothing. Our vendor called me last night to see if anything more has happened as he has chased them too, I also got a call from my EA who told me his 'heart sank every time he tries to get hold of them'.
We have all been ready since the begining of December we are now looking at February realistically thats 2 months of pfaffing around as slowly as possible that is totally unecessary.
I have everything crossed to exchange asap, thanks for the good wishes!0 -
I have been also a 'victim' of this company having been pushed into taking their services by the smart mortgage advisor who was working out of Bridgfords. We have been waiting for 2 months to get anywhere with our move and like some of the forum members experiences here have lost the will to live. Seeing so much negative comments about this company, is there no other way we can highlight their appalling service or complain?0
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My one experience of them in 2003 was so bad that I would refuse to deal with anyone using them. I am aware that if I buy from or sell to, the other person is at liberty to choose their own solicitor. But Countrywide are so bad, that I would have to say that if they intend to use them, they are at liberty to do so. But not to buy from or sell to me.Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam0
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Just sack them. It will be quicker.I have been also a 'victim' of this company having been pushed into taking their services by the smart mortgage advisor who was working out of Bridgfords. We have been waiting for 2 months to get anywhere with our move and like some of the forum members experiences here have lost the will to live. Seeing so much negative comments about this company, is there no other way we can highlight their appalling service or complain?Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam0 -
Well they took so long that our buyers buyers mortgage offer had run out and he had to go and get another valuation done and sort out another mortgage. Santander have taken 3 weeks so far to just organise a valuation survey, so our buyers buyer has now decided to pay cash for the property and re-mortgage once he is in there (he is a developer/student landlord) Hopefully that might speed things up as our sellers are getting twitchy as they are paying a mortgage on an empty property as theyve already moved to another house.
I would never get involved with anyone that uses Countrywide ever again.0
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