Two house sales have fallen through – should I have to pay my solicitor? Please help!

Tunstallstoven

Hi all

I know it’s a long read (sorry) – but if anyone could help us out here we would be so grateful! My partner and I have been cursed with bad housing buying luck for the last 9 months!

Property A – we first had our offer accepted on this in July 09. We had our survey done and things were going well. Then, the vendor disappeared and his estate agent and solicitor was unable to contact him. After two months they wrote to us saying they were going to have to give up.

Property B – we therefore started looking again and soon found another property (“B”). As luck/bad luck would have it, the day after our offer was accepted on Property B, we were told the vendor of Property A had made contact with his estate agent. We decided to pursue property B because we had already given up on Property A and had no faith in the vendor.

Around Xmas time, we were having difficulties getting some information about the house from the vendors of Property B (regarding an extension and septic tank). Their estate agent (who also happened to be the vendor’s best friend) put pressure on us saying that we needed to exchange contracts without this outstanding information. We refused. They then gave us an ultimatum – saying that if completion was not reached by the year end, we would have to pay the stamp duty on the vendor’s house (the one they were buying) because we were holding things up unnecessarily. Every one re-assured us that our requests for information were perfectly normal and fair.

So that house fell through as well……

A short time after, we heard from the estate agent of Property A saying that the vendor was back in touch and being helpful(ish). We put in another offer and had it accepted. So conveyancing continued on Property A from where we left off. However, after a few weeks we were told that the property had been repossessed – locks were being changed, and the vendor was filing we bankruptcy. We checked with the lender, but they said the property was not in their possession. No one could get in touch with the vendor (again!), and the vendor’s solicitor was refusing to make any further inquiries without instruction from their client. We left things hoping some sense would come out of the situation, but 3 weeks later and we are none the wiser.

We have now just had an offer accepted on Property C – a new property.

I have asked our solicitor about costs for his work thus far and been told we are being charged £287.50 for property A and the same for property B. The firm have a “No Sale No Fee” type policy so I don’t see why we should have to pay.

Sorry the post is so long – was not able to explain it in less words. But if anyone could take the time to read it and say what we should do I’d really appreciate it. We have already lost a lot of money from these failed purchases and really cannot afford another £600 for nothing.

Many many thanks

Max

PS – I will try to get together details of the relevant correspondences in case they are needed.

Milliewilly

Why have you asked for costs thus far if its no sale no fee?? Do you have details of the no sale no fee? This is normally Estate Agent speak not solicitors.

I don't think considering the work thats been done and the properties involved the bill is high - I had to pay £420 when my buyers pulled out.

Remember - its not your Solicitors fault any of the sales have fallen through so they are entitled to be paid for the work they have done unless agreed (and you can prove it) otherwise.

Tunstallstoven

The solicitor's paperwork says:

"....If the purchase does not proceed due to adverse survey or title defect or withdrawal by the seller or difficulties in obtaining a mortgage then no charge will be made for the work that we undertake. Should the matter prove abortive because you decide not to proceed then we will charge you a proportion of of our estimated fee according to which of the following stages the transaction has been reached......[details follow]"

Many thanks for the reply.

clutton_2

i think you have to pay...

Milliewilly

Well re-reading your posts you have effectively pulled out of both sales (albeit with good reason) and the sales have not stopped for any reason in the Solicitor's get out terms so they will want paying.

It may be worth trying to negotiate on a deal with the Solicitor by using them to buy house 'C'.

I still think £278 for each house is not extortionate though as it sounds like they weren't straightforward before they fell through.

Good luck.

Fire_Fox

Usually when a solicitor has this sort of arrangement they will not charge you for their time but they will still charge you any out of pocket expenses, e.g. updating the searches.

bandofbrothers

WoW you've been thro a turbulant time !

I agree with Milliewilly.

My house sale fell thro when the buyer went awol after signing the mortgage paperwork. All that was left to do was him pay the deposit and sign the contract's, but he just went off the radar !!

Hope all goes well for you and you get your dream home eventually.

seabright

Are you sure these are actuallu fees for the work carried out? It sounds like the sort of sum you would expect to pay for searches, and they are never part of a no-sale, no-fee deal.

Tunstallstoven

We have already paid for searches and disbursements as the solicitor requested payment for these upfront.

The charges are definitely just for work carried out.

I'm now going through emails to see exactly what was said in each case.

A huge thanks for all the responses. What a great forum....

timmyt

Obviously you would expect to pay your solicitor who is fighting your corner, but if they say in their paperwork that the situation on each property is not chargeable then there is your answer.

Lawyers get paid the least in a property deal (agents VAT is often higher than thelawyers bill) and yet who works day in day out week after week.

Richard_Webster

I think you will have to pay and in general terms the charges are probably reasonable.

What is unreasonable is the way they have worded their "No sale, no fee" scheme. It looks so good when you first see it, and a lay person might not think through that actually there could well be circumstances where a buyer would pull out because of the seller's unreasonable behaviour. Very clever perhaps but will Max Dread use that solicitor again or recommend him to his friends if he feels they have used a technicality to charge him?

I have an optional no sale no fee scheme where I charge an extra initial fee for it, but I do not make that stipulation, because, to me it would cause clients to see it in unfavourable light, in the way that Max Dread has found here.