Anyone ever changed solicitors?

KathrynPenguin

Just got off the phone to mine, in floods of tears and now think he is going to jeaperdise our purchase. I want to go down to his office and get the file and find someone human to deal with it. This is a joint purchase with my mother and she feels the same. The relationship we have with this guy is now so broken down that I can't see a way forward, tried to speak to the other partner about it and he was just as bad.

Basically we find his communication poor and difficult to understand. He gets angry with us on the phone. Mum said at one point "we are not getting a mortgage" when we are, she thinks of it as my mortgage because I'm going to be paying it (she is financing the majority of the purchase with cash). We have made it clear that she is aware of her liablility should anything happen to me but he is now referring this issue to his colleague as he is "worried she doesn't think she's got a mortgage". Wont even tell me when he is getting back to me.

Its made me want to go and grab my useless ex husband and tell him to come back and lets fix our marriage - seems extreme but I want to move to get away from him and feeling like I could make it work (trust me I shouldn't feel like that!). Divorce and moving has me very over emotional.

Jo.1981

I would find a new solicitor I was happy using, (possibly from a recommendation) give them a phone, explain the circumstances and see what they say. Don't think any solicitor would turn away business. Anyway the worst they can say is no.

Hope this helps.

lynzpower

Ive fired my solicitors when I was buying this place.

they literally were a shower of 5hite.

Once the trust is gone, I could not allow the biggest puchase of my life to be influenced by those muppets ( thompsons partnership plymouth- shocking)
did things like
sent other peoples bank statements & birth certs to me
spelt my name wrong on loads of important docs
showed no remorse or regret or ever apologied
completely misread the lease
got the mortgage co wrong ie was sending me forms to sign from a lender that were meant for someone else
generally unpleasant on the phone, saying things like, you are wasting our time with these phone calls your just nervous its natural.

generally shocking. and they made it verrrrrrry stressful indeed.

I contacted the conveyancers that were recommended by my broker, they were absolutely brilliant, coud not find fault aside from the fact that they were not the cheapest, and it did cost me more. the new sol contacted the old sol and got the searches and whatnot off them. In the end it worked out ok , but I would never ever recommned thompsons partnership again, they were truly terrible.

Bossyboots

I have to say, from what you have put, that I can't see what your solicitor is doing wrong in regard to the issue of your mum and the mortgage. He is quite rightly concerned and to be honest with you, I wouldn't accept just your word or you mum's that she knows what she is doing. Sadly too many older folk are manipulated by their offspring when it comes to money. Your mum should be pleased he is watching her back. I can well understand why the solicitor is concerned after your mum has uttered the words about the mortgage. The fact is that even though you are paying it, if she is named on it she is just as liable as you for the payments should you default. If she is not named on the mortgage and you default, her home and capital are at risk. Even in your own post here you state "she thinks of it as my mortgage because I'm going to be paying it ". This set off alarm bells for me and I wonder whether she really does understand the full implications of the set up. Has she taken independent legal advice?

That doesn't excuse rudeness or ignorance though and I know what you mean about the breakdown in trust as I have just been through this myself. Once that has gone, you really have no choice but to change. Your solicitor does not have to release the file to you until he has been paid so you cannot just go down and take it. You need to ask around for a recommendation as has been suggested. You would then need to make a complaint to the firm using their complaints procedure to try to recover some of your costs due to their lack of adequate service.

I'm not siding with your solicitor in this, but trying to give you a different perspective of how it comes across and why he has reacted as he has to what she said.

Julysea

I fired my solicitors last time I bought a property. It did make the process very disjointed and also more expensive as I had to pay him for what he'd done and then the new lot and there was some overlap. However, I really think it is vital to have a solicitor that you feel able to communicate with. It may well be the case that your current solicitor is perfectly competent and doind all he should be, but if he can't communicate with you and vice versa then there is a risk that you're not getting the info you need. Maybe just put it down to a personality clash and try again with a recommendation from someone you trust?

KathrynPenguin

Bossyboots wrote:

That doesn't excuse rudeness or ignorance though and I know what you mean about the breakdown in trust as I have just been through this myself. Once that has gone, you really have no choice but to change. Your solicitor does not have to release the file to you until he has been paid so you cannot just go down and take it. You need to ask around for a recommendation as has been suggested. You would then need to make a complaint to the firm using their complaints procedure to try to recover some of your costs due to their lack of adequate service.

I'm not siding with your solicitor in this, but trying to give you a different perspective of how it comes across and why he has reacted as he has to what she said.

Thanks for that I did need to think about their point of view. From ours Mum is very happy to be liable on the mortgage - she is only 61 and does understand the situation. I have now spoken to the senior partner and explained - Mum has been a joint mortgagee twice before with my father. By her own admission she never really knew a lot about or dealt with these mortgages either but she is fully aware of her own liability and appreciates that should I default then she would have to pay. Its a risk she is willing to take as the only way she sees me defaulting is if I die. I have one of the few stable jobs left (teacher - you can't get enough people to do my job) and this mortgage is rather tiny compared to my earnings.

I'm still not very happy about their communication skills but at least they have now made everything very clear to us and I understand the next steps. It hasn't helped that I'm so emotional, we will have to take my son out of school next month as we can't manage childcare (Fortunately he's only in reception) and we would have already changed his school if we wern't moving. I'm getting a BTL on my existing house and I have got people looking round wiht an expectation of when its available. If I change this date I could lose tennants or if I sign paperwork I could make myself homeless.

To top it all after posting the original note I drove over to Mums, very distracted and ended up with a speeding ticket! Just when our finances are stretched.

Mrs_pbradley936

If I had someone like lynz had I would change but in all honesty I think you should take a deep breath and calm down. You can change of course, but you will get a bill for work done thus far, then have to start all over with someone new and you might not like them much either. He might have been rude or he might have been exasperated which is not really the same thing. He knows you are getting a mortgage, you know as well but then Mother says you are not! He also has a professional responsibility to make sure that his clients (you and Mother) are fully aware of what they are doing. As an outsider it looks to me as if Mother may not be fully aware. Sorry in advance if my honesty offends. I am sure you will feel calmer in a day or two.

KathrynPenguin

No apology needed. Mother just said she wasn't getting a mortgage as SHE isn't. Because we are buying the property in joint names her name had to go on the mortgage. She is putting in her share in cash (and its more than half) and I am getting equity from my current property and a small mortgage. He confused her by asking how her mortgage application was going and she siad she wasn't getting one.

The senior partner seems quite happy with the situation now. I just wish the other bloke could be clearer and not talk to use like we were a nuscience.

Debt_Free_Chick

KathrynPenguin wrote:

Basically we find his communication poor and difficult to understand.

Most solicitors are like this. I'm not excusing it, but they tend to very academic people from certain backgrounds - they find it incredibly difficult to deal with emotions and the "soft" side of the adviser/client relationship. I am almost 100% certain that's it's not personal and "not you".

Divorce and moving has me very over emotional.

Quite possibly. So maybe your solicitor is being clinically business-like and, just maybe, s/he is acting in your best interests.

Mother just said she wasn't getting a mortgage as SHE isn't. Because we are buying the property in joint names her name had to go on the mortgage. She is putting in her share in cash

I doubt the mortgage company is happy about this - and this might explain why your solicitor is pursuing this point. There is no way that your mother can own, outright, her half-share of the property, whilst your mortgage lender has a charge over "your half". Your mortgage lender will want a first charge over the whole property - this means that, if you can't pay the mortgage, then they get ownership of the property, in total. Clearly, this won't happen if your mother is claiming that she owns half of it.

I just wish the other bloke could be clearer and not talk to use like we were a nuscience.

Perhaps he is actually annoyed with himself, for not being able to communicate his point very clearly It doesn't excuse rude behaviour ... but it might help you to deal with it.

HTH

I rather suspect that your solicitor is technically correct, but communicating rather badly.

Bossyboots

KathrynPenguin wrote:

No apology needed. Mother just said she wasn't getting a mortgage as SHE isn't. .

Yes SHE is. Being named on the mortgage document makes her a party to it and just as liable as you for repayment. I can understand why the solicitor is worried if this is the line of thinking you are both taking. DFC has made some very sound comments, in particular with reference to the fact that the mortgage covers the whole property and not just your share. I am surprised the solicitors have not asked your mum to seek independent advice on this before they go any further and to produce proof that she has taken that advice.

KathrynPenguin

I think I am now confusing you all. Mum is aware that the mortgage is in joint names and that she would be liable if I were to default. She will not be contributing towards payments as I will make them. The house is in joint names but not 50 50 as we are going to be "tennants in common" and have a 65/35 agreement in my favour. Solicitor actually told me this wasn't in Mums best interest but this is how we are going in to this purchase.

Mum and I currently own 1 house each. EXCEPT I already own 50% of her house, she owns none of mine. I inherited this share when my father passed away. We are not making the sale dependant on the sale of mums house (still think of it that way even though its as much mine) as we have instead cashed in our investment portfolio, which was again in joint names. Therefore with making the mortgage payments too I am putting in the majority of the equity and holding the majority share in the property. I will also be living in the main 4 bed house whilst she resides in a single storey 1 bedroomed annexe (although she is relatively young the arthritis is creeping up and she sees this as a good alternative to a simple downsize) Mum will still have a large liquid amount after her house sale goes through and should anything happen to me will be able to use this to pay off the mortgage which would leave her short of ready cash but she would rather do this than line the building soc's pockets with interest and in all reality she would probably sell the house as it would be way too big for her and my son would probably not live there if I were no longer around.

I guess we do have to keep this bunch now, even though they talk to us like we are idiots, make mum feel like a complete bozo and send letters that are both curt and confusing. There really doesn't seem to be an alternative, Mum engaged a different bunch to deal with her house sale and they have taken 3 days just to send out initial information, blamed the post etc etc so she is already off side with them.

I have Enact (though L&C) dealing with my BTL and they seem far more efficient even though when I call I'm only speaking to a call centre and guessing these are not fully trained legal pros on the other end of the line!