High legal fees - are they fair?

Tutor101

I am in the process of completing on a mortgage, but the legal fees seem to be much higher than the KFI indicated, and for different things. Could someone in the know please let me know if they are fair costs or inflated?

(Background: I am buying a half share from my current co-owner to become the sole owner of my home.)

KFI Estimates:

Other Fees
A non-refundable legal fee payable to your legal adviser for acting on our behalf and payable before the loan starts. The figure quoted here is only an indication and is only part of the cost of the overall legal work. The total fee will be higher. Please ask your legal adviser for details. = £117.00 I do not have a legal adviser, so surely this does not apply?

Land Registry registration fee to register our mortgage over your property following completion. This fee is payable to our legal adviser on or before completion and is only refundable if your mortgage does not go ahead. The fee opposite applies to registered properties in England and Wales only. For unregistered properties in England and Wales and for properties in Scotland and Northern Ireland (whether registered or unregistered) different fee scales apply. Our legal adviser will confirm the exact fee payable. = £80.00

You may have to pay other taxes or costs in addition to any fees shown here.

Actual Costs charged by the Lawyers acting for the mortgage company:

Costs Total

Santander UK plc £205141.32


Additional Bankruptcy Fee £12.00

Bankruptcy Fee £4.00

Consideration £23000.00

Electronic ID Check Fee £4.00

Gordons Legal Fee £234.00

HMLR Registration Fee £40.00

Lender TT Fee £36.00

Local Search Insurance £11.00

OE Fee £3.00

OS1 Fee £3.00

Planning Permissions/Buildings Regulations £60.00

Removal of Sole Proprietor Restriction Fee £120.00

SDLT Processing Fee £7.20

SDLT Administration Fee £16.80

Stamp Duty £1255.00

Transfer of Equity Fee £300.00


Most of these items were not mentioned in the KFI - do I have grounds for complaint or negotiation?

Thanks!

Simon_gloster

All seems reasonable. Looks like your doing some sort of house purchase with s title transfer. £600 is normal, whats this gopping consideration fee?

Thrugelmir

These are third party costs not the banks. So there's no room for negotiation nor do they form part of the mortgage offer.

Tutor101

The consideration fee is what I am paying the other party for their share of the house.

Thanks for the advice.

ACG

(1) A non-refundable legal fee payable to your legal adviser for acting on our behalf and payable before the loan starts. (2)The figure quoted here is only an indication and is only part of the cost of the overall legal work. The total fee will be higher. (3)Please ask your legal adviser for details.

(1) Your legal adviser, is the solicitor acting on your behalf.
(2) It clearly states the £117 is for the work done on the lenders behalf and the overall cost WILL be higher
(3) It then also says to ask your legal adviser (solicitor or conveyancer) for more details.

Its not the lenders job to breakdown the solicitors costs, thats the solicitors job. The lender doesnt know what the solicitor will charge as they all have different pricing structures.

But to answer your question, your free to make a complaint but you wont get anywhere. It seems you have made an assumption that the £117 is the price, you havnt checked it and now its a surprise? Unfortunately, thats your mistake and not the lenders/solicitors.

Sorry but i wouldnt waste anymore time on this.

EDIT: The solicitor was acting for you... they didnt pay the stamp duty for the lender, they did it so you could become the legal owner of the property, if the lender included free legals then that just means you didnt pay for it. It does not mean they were not acting on your behalf.

kingstreet

The lender's legal fee shown on the KFI has to appear because the cost forms part of the APR.

The legal work done for a purchase, or transfer of equity, is the purchaser/owner's responsibility and the lender would not accept responsibility for it. The lender's legal fee forms only a small part of the overall cost.

At the outset, you obtain a quotation from a solicitor for the work you want done and the lender's legal work forms a part of that. Some lenders use a separate firm, also at your expense, but many are happy for the borrower's solicitor to act for the lender too. There are other out of pocket expenses, such as land registry and search fees which are also your responsibility.

Did you not have such costs when you purchased the property?

There is no issue here, IMHO.

Tutor101

Ok, I understand. I was very busy at the time of organising this and was naive to think the costs would be less - just got a shock when the bill arrived with 1 week to completion...

Thanks for the advice.