Solicitor exchanged before mortgage valuation back

martindow

I'm rather surprised by the tone of the replies here. Most of us buy and sell houses infrequently and many people are doing it for the first time. Surely a solicitor's role is to protect their client and guide them through the process. If their client 'instructs' them to exchange the solicitor should explain that they can't do that before everything is in place.

Ivana_Tinkle

I don't understand how your solicitor has managed to exchange when you don't have a mortgage offer. When is the completion date? Is there some kind of unusual circumstance (eg the proceeds from your sale are enough to buy the new house but for some reason you're taking out a mortgage on top)?

What is your solicitor saying about this mess?

InMyDreams

I agree with martindow. The very reason most of us employ a conveyancer rather than DIY is precisely because we aren't familiar with the process and wouldn't trust ourselves to know all the correct procedures and questions to ask.

I'm also amazed that the conveyancer exchanged before a solid mortgage offer was in place. When my parents recently bought their house, they didn't need a mortgage, but there was the tiniest (negligible in their eyes) chance that the money they were going to be using wasn't going to be available in time. They were more than prepared to take the chance, and the rest of the family would have stepped in if necessary. But their purchase was delayed because the conveyancer insisted on seeing evidence that a bank would give them a bridging loan in that most unlikely event. Frustrating as it was, we could all see why he was insisting. But if they had been able to simply 'instruct the conveyancer to exchange' they would have done.

Building_Surveyor

This probably won't reassure you but it's better to be brutally honest. In answer to your points yes you could loose your deposit and yes you might not get a mortgage offer or they may stick a retention on some or all of the funds. If the latter happens you may need to fund the work out of your own pocket to rectify before they release the mortgage funds. Now you've exchanged you are pretty much tied in. All the above Are worst case scenarios though.

As for the solicitor they have acted irresponsibly, equally you also have some responsibility. but as they are the professional who should be acting with your best interests the majority of the blame sits with them.. As for any recourse I am not entirely sure. I hope for your sake it doesn't come to that. Hope for the best.

stebiz

The bottom line is that no money even needs to change hands for an exchange to take place - although it often is. It is also advisable to ensure that all searches, surveys, mortgage offers are in place prior to doing so BUT it doesn't have to be.

The difference here is that you have employed a Solicitor whom you say didn't advise you AGAINST exchanging and did so on your request. That is negligent in my opinion and most like minded people.

stebiz

Building_Surveyor wrote: »

This probably won't reassure you but it's better to be brutally honest. In answer to your points yes you could loose your deposit

And any expenses and any losses the vendor incurs whilst selling to somebody else.

ie You agree £150,000 and exchange with 10% £15,000
They incur legal costs for £3,000 and sell for £100,000 because of structural fault. You lose £53,000 - £15,000 and they can chase for £38,000.

I hope your Solicitor has a years supply of Daz or Persil.

Thrugelmir

stebiz wrote: »

I hope your Solicitor has a years supply of Daz or Persil.

At the very least Professional Indemnity Insurance.

Thrugelmir

marthaw4 wrote: »

I have an email from my solicitor sometime last week/week before saying that she had received the mortgage offer subject to the mortgage valuation,

Did you see a copy of the mortgage offer. As you would need to sign a copy and return to accept the terms.

Racml34

I too don't understand how the solicitor has allowed this. Ours was acting for us and the mortgage lender. She would not exchange until formal mortgage offer was received and indeed the bank had an issue with the reports we had submitted regarding retention and said they were not happy for the solicitor to exchange until this was rectified. Only after new reports were submitted and a replacement mortgage offer was received did we exchange. The solicitor explained that she was not prepared to risk our deposit by exchanging before everything was in place.

I do hope this gets sorted for you. It is such a stressful process and I'm sure this only adds to it!

Racml34

Actually thinking about it she ask so could not exchange without seeing the valuation report so I assume this is something all solicitors would want to see prior to exchange