Have i exchanged contratcs???

bikermom

Hi - my husband and I have recently failed to get a mortgage - had everything agreed in principle but to no joy- we can not even take our current mortgage with us.

I desperatly need to know if i have exchanged contracts with the buyers of our home - I have signed and sent them back to the solicitors but have no details on completion or anything else.

So have i exchanged and do i still have the option to pull out? at this stage will i incur any fees? Im so angry as we were told there would be no problem getting a mortgage for what we need as we only wanted 55% - and then tried to take just our current mortgage with us which would have been us having a 39% LTV but NO ONE will help us. Now if i cant pull out we will be homeless so i cant eat or sleep with worry and stress.

anselld

It seems highly unlikely that any solicitor would exchange without a mortgage offer in place and without discussing completion date with you.
But you need to confirm that with them for sure.

moneyistooshorttomention

My legal bod got me to sign right at the start of her starting work but specifically told me that the contract wont be exchanged until she has asked me if its okay to do so at the appropriate stage in proceedings.

I cant imagine a solicitors office wanting to put themselves at risk of their own client suing them for exchanging when they hadn't specifically been contacted to say "Is it okay to Exchange now? - and by the way the Completion Date agreed by all is x date".

I think the clue lies in how often have you heard of solicitors being sued for exchanging when they hadn't been authorised to do so? I've never heard of this...

How often have disgruntled clients vandalised solicitors offices - because they didn't dare sue, but wanted a way to have some sort of "come back" on them for exchanging when they hadn't been authorised to do so? I've never noticed this...

I doubt anyone is about to come on the Forum and say "Actually...I walked past Bad !!! Solicitors yesterday and saw red paint thrown all up their wall and someone had obviously thrown bricks through all their windows...":cool:

calicocat

I would doubt it without the mortgage in place, but you need to check with them, I didn't know when I had exchanged until after the event which I was a bit miffed about.

PasturesNew

anselld wrote: »

It seems highly unlikely that any solicitor would exchange without a mortgage offer in place and without discussing completion date with you.
But you need to confirm that with them for sure.

+1

They get you to sign the paperwork ahead of exchange, so they've got it. Then, once all the paperwork's in place (including the mortgage offer), they'll phone you up and ask "Exchange today madam?".

Contact your solicitor.

Mallotum_X

What does your solicitor say....?

dumpallhere

Duplicate post.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4736396

Full_of_angst

I signed my contracts a few weeks before exchange, and on the day of exchange my solicitor rang me first and asked me was I happy for him to exchange. So I doubt you'd have exchanged as your solicitor would have informed you.

moneyistooshorttomention

calicocat wrote: »

I would doubt it without the mortgage in place, but you need to check with them, I didn't know when I had exchanged until after the event which I was a bit miffed about.

I can't actually see how that could have happened...(ie being told AFTER the event that Exchange had happened).

What were the exact circumstances in that instance?

kingstreet

calicocat wrote: »

I would doubt it without the mortgage in place, but you need to check with them, I didn't know when I had exchanged until after the event which I was a bit miffed about.

It's their sale they may have exchanged, not their purchase.

In which case their mortgage situation is irrelevant if their solicitor thinks they are willing to sell before they buy.

I know it's unlikely, but...

moneyistooshorttomention

I had a question on my form asking if I was selling and buying on the exact same day or words to that effect and ticked the box saying I am.

Hopefully OP's plans were to do just that and all they have to do is to see if they have ticked the box for that question on the form and know that they couldn't possibly have exchanged on one house without also doing so on the other at the exact same time.