DIY conveyancing on purchase - vendor's solicitor being awkward

G_M

Building_Surveyor wrote: »

...
what the solicitor charges is down to them - if your daughter doesn't like it i would suggest she takes her business elsewhere. simple. even if shes out of pocket, otherwise be prepared to abide by there terms - but this is your daughter issue, not yours. although you are related you need to try and remain as impartial as possible.

giving the solicitor an ultimatum? - unless they are struggling for work that plan is likely to backfire.

I don't see how the ultimatum I suggested can backfire. Either
1) they agree to act for daughter without the unjustified extra £300 fee or
2) they allow daughter to transfer to a more understanding solicitor without incurring costs to original rip-off solicitor or
3) they refuse both 1 & 2 in which case daughter must decide either to
i) pay the £300 extra & stay with original solicitor or
ii) move, and pay the original solicitor's fees to date or
iii) move and contest the original solicitor's fees to date

Where's the backfire?

OP - for a sale/purchase of this type I see little reason why you cannot DIY, given that you appear sensible, intelligent and confidant.
* cash purchase
* no mortgage either end
* familiar property (no search surprises)
* trust between buyer/seller

Only caveats might be if
* it's leasehold - but even so only if an unusual or short lease, or an absent freeholder/'difficult' management company
* unusual covenants - though you & daughter probobly know about these already

My own experience of DIY conveyancing is that not only can it save the fees, but it's immensely satisfying (as is fixing your own car!) and also you learn far more about your new property than you would delegating the process toaprofessional (this probobly does not apply here).

A DIYer, dealing with just one property, can also be faster than a solicitor (who is juggling 10, 20 properties)

There are risks, but where it's a straight -forward conveyance, and the DIYer takes due care (and recognises if something beyond their ability arises), these are minimal.

The_Earl_of_Streatham

BristolBob wrote: »

You may be educationally competent but you are not professionally competent. If the solicitor is dealing with another solicitor they know the methods of redress available are effective if things go wrong. If you mess up things may fall on their own head if they have not taken the time to be particularly thorough.

Are they not being paid to do that whatever the circumstances?

Stromboli

Thanks once again G_M. The house is freehold and there are no unusual covenants, so this is a relatively straightforward transaction.
My daughter has bounced a strong response back to the solicitor, so it's a case of wait and see. Fingers crossed, but I'm not optimistic.
Although I'm not keen to be ground down by the protectionist stance of the legal profession, I have to recognise that I might need to be pragmatic. Standing my ground could end up in the lawyers getting more cash from the two parties overall than would have been the case if I'd used a conveyancer in the first place. Plus valuable time would be lost. That would be a pretty hollow "victory" and this was never meant to be a crusade anyway.

Building_Surveyor

considering you are doing your own DIY conveyancing could you not reimburse your daughter with the £300 if need be? you will still be saving money.

And GM by backfire i mean, the OP is unlikely to get what she wants by giving an ultimatum. If i were the solicitor and i was applying justified charges then i wouldn't bat an eyelid.

Stromboli

I could reimburse my daughter but there are reasons why I wouldn't: as far as I can see the only extra work that has any substance is the identity check and that shouldn't cost much. The rest is all ifs and maybes. If I paid £300 a major chunk of the saving would disappear and I would still be doing all the real work myself. It would make more sense to hand the whole lot over to a conveyancer and pay for him or her to do everything. Finally, if it looked like I was paying part of the vendor's costs, it might be argued that there was a potential conflict of interest. Will wait and see what response the solicitor gives and take it from there.

G_M

Building_Surveyor wrote: »

And GM by backfire i mean, the OP is unlikely to get what she wants by giving an ultimatum. If i were the solicitor and i was applying justified charges then i wouldn't bat an eyelid.

Perhaps.

But 'backfire' implies this course of action could actually make things worse. I don't see how. The worst that can happen is that the solicitor insists on his £300 (ie the status quo).

Richard_Webster

G_M's comments so far are the nearest to the truth.

There is some extra work - making sure that the buyer understands that the conveyancer owes her no duty of care and doing money laundering checks - but the issues are not nearly as severe as in the case of a sale where undertakings normally are involved. if the buyer is prepared to go to the solicitor's office then I can't see a very big deal - one slightly longer letter to back protect the solicitor and some money laundering checks both as to ID and source of funds - the latter takes longer and can be more tedious. At a push, £100 extra, but not £300!

peterpownall

As a conveyancer for more than 40 years I can confirm that in dealing with a DIY conveyancer there is more work for the conveyancer to do partly because conveyancing is far more tightly regulated than previously.
Conveyancers also have to give consideration to the DIY conveyancer's potential lack of knowledge and experience.
My guess is your daughter's conveyancer is erring on the side of caution and not really come across it before unless he/she is as old as I am! It is extremely rare to deal with DIY conveyancers.
Conveyancers have to notify lenders if they are dealing with a DIY conveyancer.
Whether you believe you are competent to deal with the matter is not the issue. You hit the nail on the head in stating you had a law degree and had dealt with other legal matters - not conveyancing matters.
Conveyance negligence claims are littered with solicitors who had "dabbled" in conveyancing matters not realising it is a very specialised area of law fraught with pitfalls for those who do not deal with conveyancing on a day to day basis.
Please do heed the warning from others in these postings and instruct a qualified conveyancer. You had indicated you had found one in the past. You will find one again but please make sure you speak directly to the conveyancer who will deal with your matter. You can usually tell during the conversation whether you feel comfortable with that person and confident they will act in your best interest.

GDB2222

Really, the daughter doesn't need a solicitor at all. As long as she gets the money and completes the transfer to dad, what's the problem?

G_M

GDB2222 wrote: »

Really, the daughter doesn't need a solicitor at all. As long as she gets the money and completes the transfer to dad, what's the problem?

Indeed. This is the other option to offer daughter's solicitor to add to the 'ultimatum' I suggested in post 13.

"Remove your £300 fee or I will de-instruct you and simply transfer the property to my dad myself. (and you can whistle for your fee)"

Dad sends daughter a cheque.
Daughter signs form TR1 from Land Registry and gives to dad.
Dad completes & submits SDLT form to HMRC.
Dad submits TR1 (plus ID) to LR.

OK - a couple more steps. Use a decent book.