Missed completion date - Advice Please

SimonW

Hi all...

I'm just after a little advice. We exchanged last week and a completion date was set for today. All was going to plan until this morning when I made a call to my solicitors. They said they had checked their account and the mortgage advance hadn't arrived so they chased the lender. Prior to exchange my solicitor told me they would request the advance the day before completion to ensure we had the funds for completion which would have been yesterday.

Later I got a call from the solicitor saying that the lender hadn't received my buildings insurance policy and some other paperwork. They had faxed copies but could not proceed without the originals and this was clearly stated in the lenders correspondence with the solictors (I found this out by calling the lender direct) and I also found out that my solicitors had been sent a letter stating this over two weeks ago. An hour or so later my solicitor called and told me that my bill supplied as proof of address (mobile phone bill) wasn't good enough and that I needed to send them another proof of address ie bank statement. All this on completion day!!

I have now received correspondence through my solicitor from the sellers solicitors...as I am in breach of contract we are liable for interest on their mortgage as well as charges for breach of contract. On top of this their solicitors are charging me for writing a letter telling me i'm in breach of contract. total extra fees of approx £225 plus approx £70 for every extra day we don't complete.

My solicitors have said they will forward the additional costs with my deposit and mortgage advance in order to complete and then invoice me for the money.

1. What I really want to know is where I stand with regards to this extra money due to what i see as my solicitors lack of performance recently. If they had requested the advance yesterday as agreed this could all have been avoided.
2. If my solicitor forwards the extra fees and I don't pay their invoice can they do anything to jeopordise the purchase?

I'm going to call them once we've completed to discuss this but was after some advice prior to the call.

Thanks in advance,

Simon

Mrs_Optimist

I am by no means an expert but it does sound like your solicitor has messed up big time. In your position I would have expected them to have done their job properly so that this situation didn't arise. When we exchanged we had in mind a completion date and my sol would not let us exchange until she had received confirmation from our mortgage co that the monies would be in my sols account to enable completion. You are paying your sol to provide a service and they have fallen short on this. Kick up merry hell, you should not be penalised for your sols mistake, it is your sol who should be paying the additional costs. They will have Indemnity Insurance for this type of !!!!-up so complain, and then complain some more. What an absolute nightmare.

benood

It sounds to me as if your solicitors have been negligent in not having everything ready for completion - therefore all extra costs to their account.

I would ask (and not very politely) for information on their complaints procedure tomorrow morning.

EliteHeat

benood wrote: »

I would ask (and not very politely) for information on their complaints procedure tomorrow morning.

But find out first if they charge for that information!

Doozergirl

I've been on this board for just over two years and this is the very first time I have heard of someone missing their completion date.

As far as I am concerned, I expect my solicitor to have it in stone that I am ready to exchange before they allow me to do so. That is exactly the reason why she is employed - because I don't know what I'm doing!

You will have a 'terms and conditions of business' leaflet or similar. That will detail the person responsible for complaints. If you do not have that, of course you can call to find out who that person is, and of course they will not charge you for complaining :rolleyes:.

The people to blame are either your mortgage lender or your solicitor. By the sound of it, your solicitor is at fault over the insurance issue, though your mortgage broker should have been informed if the mobile phone bill was insufficient - I am very surprised that the bill was not rejected straight off by your lender? Even then, your solicitor should have known that the mortgage lender was not satisified

SimonW

We eventually completed last week, two days after the planned completion date!

I've got the house keys, moved in our furniture, started the decorating and there is still no sign of a bill from my solicitors for the breach of contract costs!

As they agreed to pay the costs up front maybe they have already admitted liabilty and the matter has gone away but we will have to wait and see.

Thanks for all the advice.

Simon

Mrs_Optimist

Glad To See That You Did Complete Eventually. Lets Hope Your Solicitor Does Not Have The Bare Faced Cheek To Try And Charge You.