Solicitor/s playing games

hyposmurf

Been told by my estate agent that my purchaser's solicitor that everything is in place and theyre looking to have the contract ready by the end of the week, for the oncoming exchange of contracts.My solicitor is telling me they have not recived that this is not the case.They have told me that they havent recieved back any enquiries from the draft contract they have issued my purchasers solicitors.How can I find out whats going on and who is stringing me along?Last thing I want is for my buyer to loose patience and pull out.

I'm also awaiting for the last search to come back in on the property.My solicitors are telling me that they will not mke any enquiries until all the searches have come back in.Is that usual?

ash28

We got our buyers enquiries stapled to the back of the contract - it took them about 6 weeks to submit any enquiries - it was about a month after the searches had been completed.

The searches on the property we are buying only took a week to come back - our solicitor said they would be probably be very straight forward as the house is only 5 years old.

Our buyers solicitor has been a bit slow in every way - but such is life I guess - I'm trying my best to believe that patience is a virtue......

G_M

Estate agents do not do conveyancing and do not know what has/has not been done. Talk to your solicitor.

You post is rather confused. You seem to be selling, but then say "My solicitors are telling me that they will not mke any enquiries until all the searches have come back in." What enquiries do your solicitors need to make?

Are you buying or selling? If both, which are you concerned about and why?

hyposmurf

G_M wrote: »

Estate agents do not do conveyancing and do not know what has/has not been done. Talk to your solicitor.

You post is rather confused. You seem to be selling, but then say "My solicitors are telling me that they will not mke any enquiries until all the searches have come back in." What enquiries do your solicitors need to make?

Are you buying or selling? If both, which are you concerned about and why?

Both.Im just wondering what is going on with the solicitors.My solicitor is telling me they havent had any enquiries back from my purchasers solicitors.My estate agent is telling thAt its all in place and they are further along and they are drafting the contract by end of the week/start of next week.
On my purchase side my solicitors are not going to do any enquiries until they have recieved asll the searches in.They are just waiting on the council search.Does this seem normal for them to carry out no enquiries,whilst waiting for all searches to come in?
My feeling is that my solicitors are slowing down as no enquiries have come through from my purchasers solicitors

hyposmurf

I by-passed them and contacted the council regarding the search and found out it had been sent to them over a week agi electronically.Surprising when I phoned up they said they oh its in our post this morning.
Im now having more fun with them.They are saying documents havent been sent to them when I expect they probably have.


How can I push along a solicitor?Im now waiting for them to raise enquiries following the searches.Problem is they know Im so far down the line that I'd unlikely pull out as it would cost me more and take longer.They seem to be un pahsed and want to move along at their snail pace.

Yorkie1

Is this an online firm or local independent solicitors?

You will have received a copy of the complaints procedure. If all else fails, use it.

G_M

hyposmurf wrote: »

Both.Im just wondering what is going on with the solicitors.My solicitor is telling me they havent had any enquiries back from my purchasers solicitors.My estate agent is telling thAt its all in place and they are further along and they are drafting the contract by end of the week/start of next week.
On my purchase side my solicitors are not going to do any enquiries until they have recieved asll the searches in.They are just waiting on the council search.Does this seem normal for them to carry out no enquiries,whilst waiting for all searches to come in?
My feeling is that my solicitors are slowing down as no enquiries have come through from my purchasers solicitors

Still very confused. Your solicitor would not get any 'enquiries back' from the purchasers solicitors as he would not send any to the purchaser's solicitors. I suspect you mean your solicitor has not received any original enquiries yet?

But if so, might the reason be the same as you explain later?

Just be patient. Conveyancing takes time - always more than buyers/sellers either want or expect.

Your solicitor will request, respond to, and complete all the various searches / contract drafting etc that is required, and will then tell you when everything is ready.

If you really want to know what's going on you
1) must fully understand the process yourself so that you can understand what you are told
2) must ignore anything the estate agent tells you
3) speak to your solicitor and ask a) what searches/enquiries etc he's sent off and/or is waiting for and/or has received and is dealing with, and specifically whether he is waiting for something which appears to be causing a delay and if so what/from whom

hyposmurf

G_M wrote: »

Still very confused. Your solicitor would not get any 'enquiries back' from the purchasers solicitors as he would not send any to the purchaser's solicitors. I suspect you mean your solicitor has not received any original enquiries yet?

But if so, might the reason be the same as you explain later?

Just be patient. Conveyancing takes time - always more than buyers/sellers either want or expect.

Your solicitor will request, respond to, and complete all the various searches / contract drafting etc that is required, and will then tell you when everything is ready.

If you really want to know what's going on you
1) must fully understand the process yourself so that you can understand what you are told
2) must ignore anything the estate agent tells you
3) speak to your solicitor and ask a) what searches/enquiries etc he's sent off and/or is waiting for and/or has received and is dealing with, and specifically whether he is waiting for something which appears to be causing a delay and if so what/from whom

Yes my solicitors said before that they hadnt recieved any initial enquiries from my purchasers solicitors.Ignore the word back.I seem to be getting more help from the estate agents than I do the solicitor.
The solicitors told me they didn't send documents via an electronic transfer process,can't remember the exact name, but the council told me they do, as thats how the search was exchanged.I was also told I was now top of the list and they would issue the enquiries by Monday at the latest, due to the delay they had caused by sitting on the search.Phoned again and got another version from another person.They told me that they would put together the enquiries when they get around to it.Might be this week might not.
I do speak to my solicitor but keep getting told different things by different people and they seem to be stringing out the whole process longer than it needs to be.(yes this is legal work so needs to be thorough,but to a point) Searches are all done and I keep asking them what else they are awaiting,what is happneing next etc.

Pupnik

hyposmurf wrote: »

I by-passed them and contacted the council regarding the search and found out it had been sent to them over a week agi electronically.Surprising when I phoned up they said they oh its in our post this morning.

Well, good to know you can trust them! I'm having similar problems with my solicitors- it seems that a lot of the time I phone them to check on something they'll say 'oh, we put this information in the post this morning'- a likely story, I'm sure they quickly cobble together the letters after I hang up and rush to get it in the post by 5.

Today when I phoned them to chase something they said 'if you haven't heard back in two days phone us and remind us again.' I would be so ashamed if people had to keep phoning me everyday to remind me to do my job, not sure why solicitors can get away with it. Oh, maybe it is because they charge us for phonecalls :think: (well ours do anyway).

G_M

Yorkie1 wrote: »

Is this an online firm or local independent solicitors?
.

Given the OP's subsequent post, this is a good question.

It sounds like a call centre conveyancing outfit - different people each time he calls, all looking at screens and trying to see where in the process they are. Almost certainly admin staff not solicitors.

One solicitor overseeing the entire 'floor' of 20? 50? staff?

OP - am I right or is this a local firm with 3 solicitors and a PA?

hyposmurf

Thre not local, call themself independant but act as you're saying.