Solicitors in administration....

tink_1983

We purchased a house in march 2013.

Mid August I got an email saying :

''I write to advise that I am taking over conduct of your file in order to conclude the registration formalities. I would advise that delays in registration have been caused as a result of the Form of Discharge provided by the seller’s solicitors not stating the correct details for the property and garage. I have had to refer back to the seller’s solicitors and ask them to make the necessary amendments to enable the formalities to be concluded. I anticipate that it will take a further two weeks to conclude matters, but I will of course let you know once these have been finalised.''

Iv chased for update several times and had a serious lack of response.

Now I see they are in administration.

How do I know if registration was done? Would I have a deed? I'm a first time buyer so this is all new to me.

It's a new build, the mortgage etc all in place and I was told the finale bits were all a formality.

But now I'm worried that they are in admin and I'm left to deal with finalising things?

Can anyone help/ advise me ?

Thanks

G_M

Pay £3 to the Land Registry here to see if you are the registered owner.

Then read:

http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/solicitor-closed-down.page

A firm has closed down

There are several reasons why a firm or sole practitioner may close.
A firm may close voluntarily, in which case it will make arrangements with its clients to deal with any ongoing work, and to arrange for the return of clients' papers and money. Where they cannot return papers or money, for example if they cannot get hold of the clients, they may then turn them over to us for safe keeping.
A firm may have been abandoned and closed suddenly. This could be due to the death or sudden illness (more often the case with sole practitioners than with firms). If you are the client of a firm that appears to have been abandoned, please contact us immediately. If we receive a report of an abandoned firm, we will look into it. It is possible that we will close the firm.
We may already have closed the firm. We do this if we consider it necessary to protect clients' interests and money, and for the protection of the wider public.
When a firm closes down, it will have consequences for

• clients—you will need to make alternative arrangements or claim money and documents owed to you
• employees of the firm
• trade creditors, who may be owed money, and
• other legal professionals such as barristers, who may be owed money for professional fees.

Video: The law firm I was using has closed down - what do I do now?

tink_1983

Thankyou for your reply especially as its NYE.

I Will do that now, our home now showin on zoopla but all our neighbours are. Not sure if this is a bad sign.

Annisele

If you're in England, you can pay the Land Registry £3 and see who it thinks owns your property.

If you show as the registered owner, then the registration must have been completed. But don't panic if it isn't you! I don't think any delays in registration will cause you a serious problem until you come to sell, so unless you plan to sell tomorrow you've got plenty of time to fix it.

Edit: Oops, G_M types faster than me!

tink_1983

Just tried land registry. Our neighbours house is there no 10 and is recognised. But it couldn't find our house no 8.

tink_1983

Thankyou Anniselle.

We are first owners as its new build.

Land registry don't recognise the address, but found my neighbours no problem.

So we clearly not registered :-(.

I don't know what to do. If they in administration where do we go from here? Citizens advice?
They were builder recommended solicitors as well!

G_M

tink_1983 wrote: »

Just tried land registry. Our neighbours house is there no 10 and is recognised. But it couldn't find our house no 8.

Is this a newly built estate? If so, I suspect your property has not been registered (due to the issues).

If the property is not new, the only reason it would not be listed (though with the previous owner) is if it has not changed hands for many years (30 ish!) and so has not yet been registered.

G_M

tink_1983 wrote: »

...
I don't know what to do. If they in administration where do we go from here? Citizens advice?

See my post above!
They were builder recommended solicitors as well!

Never wise to use the builder's recommendation- hardly impartial! Still, too late now....

tink_1983

Yes new build.

Silly new first time buyer that I am didn't think that it'd be an issue. Kicking myself now.

There are some numbers I can call after the bank holidays to chase up what they are doing with our case.

Just wondering if its going to end up costing us money again to get this finalised

G_M

tink_1983 wrote: »

Yes new build.

Silly new first time buyer that I am didn't think that it'd be an issue. Kicking myself now.

There are some numbers I can call after the bank holidays to chase up what they are doing with our case.

Just wondering if its going to end up costing us money again to get this finalised

It shouldn't. The SRA should appoint a firm to takeover your case, and since (it appears) the problem lies with your original firm, not you, they should resolve it at nocost. If they DO charge, I imagine you would have a case to take to the Administrators, and, again, the firm appointed to take over should assist with this.

Speak to the SRA.

tink_1983

G_M Thankyou so much for your advice.

Ill be on the phone first thing on the 2nd :-)