Can we sue Solicitor?

Ulfar

If missives have been concluded which sets the contract then you can sue both your solicitor and the vendor.

You need to work out what you want. Finding a solicitor to take this on shouldn't be hard.

I would be suing the vendor to require they complete the contract which it sounds they will be unlikely to do as they have no money.

With the above being true I would sue the solicitor for negligence in not completing all the checks that the vendor could actually sell the property. I would be aiming for the payout to be enough for you to pay off the outstanding debt on the property thereby allowing the transfer of deeds. I am assuming you still want the property.

Before telling your current solicitor I would be complaining and asking what they are going to do to correct their mistake. See below for how much crap they are in.

If it is the same solicitor dealing with both clients then that is a big conflict of interest and makes them doubly negligent, not only because its wrong but they should have known the situation of both clients.

If however it is separate solicitors in the same firm then this is allowed.

What I wouldn't be doing is moving out.

scottishchick27

A solicitor firm can deal with both clients in the same deal as long as they're both existing clients and both parties are aware of the conflict then there's no problem. I would say you have a claim OP but it's going to be a difficult journey, I would agree with contacting the Law Society of Scotland. Try the complaints partner at the firm you've used first though, they'll probably bend over backwards to help you.

tyler80

I'd second going to the complaints partner or head of the firm etc.

We had a similar situation (although nowhere near as serious) of the solicitor handling our case being generally !!!!less and discovering that another solicitor at the same firm was also representing the vendor about 8 weeks into the process.

It's amazing how quickly solicitors ring back if you send them an email explaining that you are unhappy with the service and questioning whether the advice given would be the same had solicitors not been acting for vendor and purchaser a fact you were previously unaware of. Head of the firm rang me back 10 minutes after the email was sent.

Ricools

Thank you for all your replies!

I am not aware if we signed the diposition or not but we definitely had nothing more to sign.

Our offer on the property was accepted from the vendor on the 30th July and we had been chasing up for confirmation that the missives had been concluded right up until Wednesday 28th Sept. The vendor signed all his side of the paperwork on that day and we got the keys with no hitches on the 30th. It was a couple of hours after that when the solicitor called us with the news. The solicitor has admitted that the vendor has been a client of hers for a very long time and that because of this she basically accepted his word.

The vendor came to see us yesterday to explain his side of the situation and said that it was an inhibition that was registered againt him relating to his divorce and that he wasn't aware of this until the solicitor called him just before she called us.

We instructed this solicitor way back March when we were putting our old property up for sale and only found out that she represented the vendor when we asked her to submit an offer on our behalf. She said she couldn't do this but it was ok for her to do everthing else. We then did the negotiating with the vendor ourselves through the Estate Agent.

A solicitor has been recommended to us by a friend who successfully sued her previous solicitor for negligence when she bought a property that was supposed to have had planning permission for converting the loft and this was reflected in the price of the property. It later turned out that it didn't and the solicitor had failed to check this.

scottishchick27

Are you saying that the solicitor acted for both of you? I assumed that it was the same firm but different solicitors. That's a big no-no. The solicitor will be in a lot of trouble for doing that.

Yorkie1

Good luck Nicools. If it's any consolation, I'm sure your solicitor has had, in her own way, a really cr*p weekend. She'll have had to report this to her senior partner, and their professional indemnity insurers probably too already. Irrespective of whether you sue, there are serious consequences for her.

Ulfar

Time for the insurers to get the cheque book out.

She is clearly negligent and needs to get it sorted to your satisfaction.

Write the complaint, send COPIES of any evidence you have, not originals.

Ricools

We have an appointment to see another solicitor this afternoon. I will update after we have seen him.

Thanks

Thrugelmir

Ricools wrote: »

We have an appointment to see another solicitor this afternoon. I will update after we have seen him.

Thanks

No contact from solicitors that conducted the purchase?

Ricools

Nothing as yet. I suspect that she is waiting to hear if the vendor can get his hands on the cash or not.