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Paying the solicitors bill on exchange?
tyler80
Posts: 364 Forumite
Is it normal to be asked to pay the solicitors bill on exchange of contracts? Seems a bit strange to pay them everything before they've completed the work
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we were asked to do this as well. didnt think anything of it!0
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no fairly unusually
bills are usually paid on completion0 -
Sometimes a mortgage lender's instructions will state that the conveyancer must ensure they have the money on account in order to be able to complete the transaction (i.e. money for fees, SDLT, Land Registry fee, etc) before they can use the mortgage money. So some solicitors will make sure they have everything before exchange so that there are no last minute panics. Some solicitors do bill the file on exchange and others wait until completion. Estate agents always raise their account on exchange but it isn't usually settled by the solicitor until completion.0
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Most solicitors would want to be paid on completion, not after it. Therefore they would need to have funds form the client to pay the bill and SDLT and Land Registry fees as well as any balance of the price befor e they complete.RICHARD WEBSTER
As a retired conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful assuming any properties concerned are in England/Wales but I accept no liability for it.0 -
How long between exchange and completion?Is it normal to be asked to pay the solicitors bill on exchange of contracts? Seems a bit strange to pay them everything before they've completed the workI am a mortgage broker. You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a Mortgage Adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice. Please do not send PMs asking for one-to-one-advice, or representation.0 -
2 weeks between exchange and completion0
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In which case, it's fair they provide you with a draft completion statement just before exchange to request your deposit and their fees and any disbursements they've paid for, to ensure they have all the funds in place ready to complete.2 weeks between exchange and completionI am a mortgage broker. You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a Mortgage Adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice. Please do not send PMs asking for one-to-one-advice, or representation.0 -
It's 2011, it takes 2 hours to transfer funds from my bank account to the solicitor's client account.0
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We paid ours on exchange with the transfer of deposits.0
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It's 2011, it takes 2 hours to transfer funds from my bank account to the solicitor's client account.
But if it got to the day of completion and there was a problem transferring the funds, for example, if the bank's systems were down or it took longer than 2 hours and your completion was delayed then that would cause a whole world of problems (and could end up costing you more). Most solicitors would rather have the money in good time for completion (at the very latest, the day before) to save any unnecessary stress for you on the day itself. Perhaps it's just the solicitors you are using's policy to request the balance of funds on exchange?0
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