HELP! I think my property lawyer is incompitent & is asking me for unwarranted monies

rflook

Hi,

I am in the midst of attempting to purchase my first flat. An offer has been accepted which is good news. Now this is where the problems started. I wanted the sale to be quick, I myself do not need to sell and the vendor said they would move into rented accomodation as soon as I was ready to move in so really it should have been quick in relative terms.

However my solicitor has been less than useful. She is slow to respond and hard to get hold of - but hey i guess thats par the course right? But a few days ago she sent me some documentation saying that there was a problem with the flat, specifically that there was no FENSA certification nor landlord consent for new windows. Also that she recommended that I get HIP/Title repair insurance (which they would sort out for £295) in case the searches (drainage/sewage and local authority) in the HIP were incorrect.

I said I wanted to sort my own HIP insurance out and my vendor said that she would have to charge me £345 to carry out her own searches (bit confused as to why this would cost so much), and that my lender (Allliance and Leicester) requires it - has anyone ever heard this before?

So I decided to have another look at the HIP and lo and behold the windows were done prior to april 2002 (the date FENSA certification became manditory), and consent with the local authority was actually applied for by the landlord (as they were updating all windows in the block). Secondly having checked out the section in the HIP on the searches it would seem that indemnity on the searches is covered by the company who did the HIP.

So I phoned my solicitor to query this and she hadnt even looked at the HIP (apparently she hadnt received it) and yet she is asking me for money. So Im no lawyer but i suspect this is rather unlawful/fraudunlent/stupid (though i could be wrong). So at the moment she is still my solicitor for the purchase (this all happened only a few hours ago). What should I do? I want this rubber stamped ASAP as I need to move out from my current flat in a few weeks (though luckily my GF said i can stay at hers for a bit), so I am worried that if I kick up a stink Ill be slowing things down even further. Anybody got any recommendations? Would really appreciate it.

Kind regards

Rob

Fire_Fox

Purchasing leasehold flats is rarely quick, there are invariably queries relating to clauses in the long lease and made of the freeholder relating to the service charges etc. that take time and money to sort out. This is tens (possibly hundreds) of thousands of pounds you are spending, do you want to 'marry in haste and repent at leisure'?

I am no solicitor either but in research terms a HIP would be classed as a secondary source as it does not necessarily contain all the original documents; furthermore HIPs do appear to be inaccurate in many cases. Therefore I would suggest your solicitor is being thorough in chasing up the original documentation or proofs before allowing you to exchange!

Whilst it is not impossible your solicitor does things that are unlawful/ fraudulent/ stupid/ incompetent, it is not more likely that an FTB simply hasn't bothered to research the process before leaping to unfounded and ridiculous conclusions? Did you even bother to get personal recommendations before choosing a solicitor?

DVardysShadow

Have you had the HIP? It isn't useless, it could save you some grief. Knowing what I know now, i would not let the solicitor start without it. But apart from that, I would agree with Fire Fox about the Solicitor doing what is expected.

rflook

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Purchasing leasehold flats is rarely quick, there are invariably queries relating to clauses in the long lease and made of the freeholder relating to the service charges etc. that take time and money to sort out. This is tens (possibly hundreds) of thousands of pounds you are spending, do you want to 'marry in haste and repent at leisure'?

I am no solicitor either but in research terms a HIP would be classed as a secondary source as it does not necessarily contain all the original documents; furthermore HIPs do appear to be inaccurate in many cases. Therefore I would suggest your solicitor is being thorough in chasing up the original documentation or proofs before allowing you to exchange!

Whilst it is not impossible your solicitor does things that are unlawful/ fraudulent/ stupid/ incompetent, it is not more likely that an FTB simply hasn't bothered to research the process before leaping to unfounded and ridiculous conclusions? Did you even bother to get personal recommendations before choosing a solicitor?

OK I appreciate that it wont be quick but still i started this process six weeks ago and the lawyer hasnt even gotten the HIP yet? Whats even more worrying is that she and the vendors lawyer work for the same company and they don't seem to be talking (complaints by my lawyer that she hasnt received documents etc).

Anyhow, so while I appreciate that the HIP could/would be classed as secondary as it doesnt have the original documents, it does have photocopies of the original documents from the local authority pertaining to the installation date of the windows and the consent. Now I appreciate your input firefox but before laying into me being a FTB who hasnt done their research I am paying a lawyer to make this purchase go through NOT to tell me that there is a problem with the windows when in fact there isnt one. I shouldnt have to be finding this information out for her.

Oh and getting some personal recommendations is a bit tough when I am the only (fortunate) person within my group of friends to be able to buy and with my colleagues all being significantly older than me I doubt their lawyers will be same now as when they bought.

Ditch_Crawler

Rflook, I think the title of your thread may well be accurate - if you can, then I would suggest you seek advice elsewhere

DC

OneAimMan

All I'm going to say is that you'll find the majority of lawyers to be the same, even the better ones. The whole process is slow and can be confusing at time.
In my case as FTB the learning curve was very steep, and request for specific answer from the lawyer where more than direct but thats lawyers for you.

At times you feel that your interests are not being looked after by the lawyer and the lack of friends/family with solid concrete advice makes it worse. Your not sure if the lawyer is doing his job or just doing the bare minimum and always covering his back?!

Always seek a second opinion if you can and stay on top of things. My advice is to research as much as you can before commiting to anything because once you sign on the dotted line, its a done deal! Ignorance is not an excuse and unfortunately you will make a mistak here or there but you'll learn from them. Good Luck.

If only I had made the right friends at school i'd never have to worry!... lawyer, a mechanic, a plumber, a handy man....and oh a dentist as well.

rflook

Ok so the speed/communication thing is definitely an issue for all and sundry so maybe i am just getting frustrated on that front like everyone else. It still doesnt get away from the fact that she is asking me for cash which it would seem i would have never had to spend in the first place. That worries me. Does anyone have any suggestions about this? Should i email her with my displeasure that she was asking me for cash which I then found out was never needed?