Discuss The ‘conveyancing’ checklist

Richard_Webster

Equally, does it go without saying that dearest is not always best?

Before committing, a bit of analysis using MSE and google pays dividends.

My feeling is that a lot of people react quickly to a deceptively low quote and regret it afterwards. When I queried my quotes in detail, I definitely got the feeling from some firms of, ‘look, do you want it or not?’.

Yes, but sadly, the people who get conned do not look at websites like MSE until after they have been conned!

jane46

rmc76 wrote: »

I am currently buying a home. After contacting a few local companies, and then going further afield, I saved £1400 on the quote from the local company. I have taken a punt on rock bottom price. So far, fingers crossed, all correspondence has been swift, professional and courteous. I will let you know after completion if it stays on track! If anyone wants the company name then I am happy to let you know.

Hope its not Conveyancing Warehouse aka Roberts of Macclesfield. Slick website, not so slick service. Instructed them 3 months ago for a simple purchase only. Put on 'backburner' for weeks, no reply to e mails, phone goes to voicemail (unless you're a prospective customer initially enquiring), 'trainee'? Luke Latham has to have everything checked. Doesnt contact opposite solicitor, asks for extra ID and verifications when not necessary, performs ( and charges for) searches specifically asked not to conduct.....
Still we wait for completion, with extra charges lumped on to add insult to injury, TOTAL NIGHTMARE, AVOID AT ALL COSTS.:(

Imelda

How about some info on instructing the solicitor? For many young FTBs this will be their first contact with a law firm and they may not be aware of the information they will need to provide before any work can be done- it could save a few days at the beginning if the solicitor already has a file open.

Ie- passport/ driving licence/ utility/ bank statement etc

I know I recently had trouble with this due to a combination of changing my name to married name, doing all banking on the internet (and turning off statements!) and utilities in DH's name.

Ellie2758

I have opted for a small local firm that did our Wills a few years back. Already I am finding that they do not return my calls and also seem somewhat curt when asked to explain which searches are for what. There seem to be several different searches: Land Registry; Local Authority; Environmental; water board..............I have rejected the one which was offered by post as £30 inc vat yet when I rang up suddenly became £50 inc vat - not even an "oh sorry, mustve sent out of date flyer". It was deemed "very interesting, tells you about local schools, crime rate etc" not interesting enough for me to want to pay £50 for when I can find that out from the Internet I pointed out, though not in so many words...........

kittencapes

10 months ago I made an offer on a flat which was accepted, and so I found a solicitor to act on my behalf, paying her a £300 deposit. Unfortunately there were lots of issues over the lease of the property as it turned out not to be a share of the freehold which were told it was by the estate agent, and so the lease needed to be extended. This is still going on 10 months later and so in the mean time we have found another property which we are now buying instead, but using a different solicitor. I want to know what fees I am likely to owe the original solicitor? She was in contact with us quite a bit initially, although I am not aware of her having acually done any work for us really. Advice needed!

red_beard_2

jane46 wrote: »

Hope its not Conveyancing Warehouse aka Roberts of Macclesfield. Slick website, not so slick service. Instructed them 3 months ago for a simple purchase only. Put on 'backburner' for weeks, no reply to e mails, phone goes to voicemail (unless you're a prospective customer initially enquiring), 'trainee'? Luke Latham has to have everything checked. Doesnt contact opposite solicitor, asks for extra ID and verifications when not necessary, performs ( and charges for) searches specifically asked not to conduct.....
Still we wait for completion, with extra charges lumped on to add insult to injury, TOTAL NIGHTMARE, AVOID AT ALL COSTS.:(

I have to second everything here they Conveyancing Warehouse are completely useless. they have held up the whole chain and everyone is getting hugely annoyed with them but they dont care at all. They made out we were ready to exchange weeks ago and have all my money so there is nothing we can do we are stuck with them. I have written to Wayne Roberts but he also ignores his customers like the rest of his staff. Please nobody make the mistake of trying to save a few quid by choosing these guys - you wont and you just might miss out on the house purchase you were after.

MissMessy_2

red_beard wrote: »

I have to second everything here they Conveyancing Warehouse are completely useless. they have held up the whole chain and everyone is getting hugely annoyed with them but they dont care at all. They made out we were ready to exchange weeks ago and have all my money so there is nothing we can do we are stuck with them. My solicitor is called Paul Odinkemere he's a waste of space (the one time i spoke to luke i though the seemed much more on the ball but it seems not!). I have written to Wayne Roberts but he also ignores his customers like the rest of his staff. Please nobody make the mistake of trying to save a few quid by choosing these guys - you wont and you just might miss out on the house purchase you were after.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

If you think they are bad type in Abode and Beaumont on the forum search....

palu

I agree with feedback on Conveyancing Warehouse and Paul Odinkimere. I wish I had read these posts earlier. More than a month and no progress at all. Did anybody got his deal completed through them in 2010?

timmyt

Richard_Webster wrote: »

I think that the checklist needs to list some of the additional fee scams that so many firms seem to use to make an apparently cheap fee much more expensive in practice than it actually is.

For instance, some firms will quote a "Professional Fee" for "Conveyancing on a Purchase" and then hide away in terms and conditions that they will charge you as much again and more for the legal work on a mortgage if you are getting one.

Then there's the completing the SDLT Form Fee, the Archiving Fee, the Professional Indemnity Contribution, the fee for completing in less than 14/21 days, etc, etc.

A solicitor can't clutter his estimate/quote with explanations about lots of fairly unlikely things that might happen in a small percentage of cases, but a high proportion of buyers have mortgages, so the main quote should clearly show extras related to the mortgage, any transaction over £40,000 requires an SDLT form, and most conveyancing transactions complete in 14 days or less from exchange, so all these things are pretty standard.

I think a few people should complain vigorously about misleading advertising and then some of these firms would be seen not to be any cheaper than a lot of high street firms.

Another scam is the use of the illustrative figure for legal costs on the mortgage shown in section 8 of a mortgage offer. Typically this is around £120-£180 plus VAT and is used by the lender to calculate the APR. Some firms say in their small print that they will charge that amount extra for the mortgage work.

For some reason (the Scots connection?) RBS/Nat West (and maybe others) put in high figures here. I have one in front of me where a figure of £770 is quoted for [
The client is borrowing £110K on a £204K property. So some firms will take the opportunity to charge a figure like £770 in this sort of case. This makes me sick and should be exposed. My professional fees for the purchase and the mortgage will be less than that.

A largish local firm near me when providing a "quote" for conveyancing puts in a separate fee of £100 plus VAT for a mortgage with a marker beside it that refers to a paragraph below which reads:
You can imagine that the average person doesn't really understand the significance of that comment and happily assumes that the fee will just be £100. I believe this is thoroughly unprofessional and the firm in question should be reprimanded by the SRA for misleading advertising.

I will continue to pass on the best piece of advice;

Always ensure you make sure that the conveyancer you get is either:
- an actual SOLICITOR whose name appears on this website - http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/findasolicitor/view=solsearch.law - and who of course specialises in conveyancing

SECOND BEST CHOICES ARE THEN in this order -
- an unquaified conveyancer but having specialising for at least 20 plus years in just conveyancing
- a legal executive specialising in conveyancing
- a licensed conveyancer

Anything less and you will be posting on this website. And take the advice of which conveyancer to use from an estate agent, but only an indepedent one, not (never in fact) a national estate agent chain. Don't listen to them or sell your house with them.

Do the above and the standard of house moving will improve over night. Tell 10 friends of the above too.

Use an online outfit at your risk, or a supermarket, a conveyancing firm with a name too good to be true (you know who I mean...)....ALL spells throuble.

And if you pay less than £500 plus VAT for any sale or purchase, again, question why. Most lawyers incur time spet in the region of £500 (as there is a lot of hours in volved in a deal bearing in mind many deals take weeks and weeks...don't be fooled by £99 firms...you will get the cleaner running the show for that). Ask the quoting firm whether:

- they close at lunch or dead at 5pm
- they have direct email address for your conveyancer or telephone numbers
- multiple people lookign after you or just the one like it should be
- your conveyancer is not really a conveyancer of any experience
- they hide charges that they call 'disbursements' but actually other lawyers do for nothing (i.e filling in a stamp duty form, acting for a lender, carrying out searches, paying off a mortgage)
- they pay more than £200 as a cash back payment to the referring estate agent

If you have any worries, private message me, as I can point you in the right direction on whether a firm's quote is risky or the reputation of some conveyancing outfits, as I handle nationwide conveyancing and I see so many bad practices out there

Good luck home movers.

pete1717

will continue to pass on the best piece of advice;

Always ensure you make sure that the conveyancer you get is either:
- an actual SOLICITOR whose name appears on this website - http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosin...=solsearch.law - and who of course specialises in conveyancing

SECOND BEST CHOICES ARE THEN in this order -
- an unquaified conveyancer but having specialising for at least 20 plus years in just conveyancing
- a legal executive specialising in conveyancing
- a licensed conveyancer

Justify that please timmyt for all posters to see why you have suggested that a Licensed Conveyancer will be a "second best" choice for consumers.

I await your response with interest