Solicitor Problem - FTB (Solicitor not on panel)

sgx.saint

Hello.

Looking for some advice regarding my current situation.

I live in Glasgow and on the 30/01 put an offer in via a solicitor on a property.

Solicitor came highly recommended by people I work with in the office.

Offer was subsequently accepted, DIP was in place with Virgin Money and using a broker, the full application was submitted on the 02/02.

On the 04/02, Virgin Money emailed the solicitor to say they were not on the lenders panel and should complete a registration pack if they wish to join and to allow the mortgage application to continue (assuming I stay with the same solicitor).

The mortgage broker was also notified on the same date of the issue.

I was only advised a whole seven days later that the solicitor was not on the lenders approved panel and no paperwork had been received.

Apparently both the broker and solicitor had been sitting on their hands for a week as neither of them contacted me to say that this was an issue!

Skip forward two weeks now, since the paperwork was sent to the solicitor and it has still not been submitted to Virgin Money.

As I work during the week, it is often difficult to speak directly to the solicitor, but I have sent several emails instructing him to get this paperwork completed and returned and I just keep getting told "it's in hand".

I email asking various questions and never get any specific answers.

I am furious that he is the only thing holding up the application and he can't even tell me what is happening.

So, if I was to change solicitors at this stage, how much of a hassle am I looking at both from a legal perspective and a financial perspective?

Do you think the solicitor charge me the full fee for his very little time spent working on the sale so far? Literally all he has done so far is verbally and by email place an offer on the house.

Do you think I should stay with the solicitor to avoid any hassle, or would you also look to move?

G_M

At what point did you tell the solicitor you were using a Virgin Money mortgage? If (as you should) when you first instructed him, he should immediately have told you "I am not on their panel".

You could then have instructed a different solicitor, or let Virgin choose one to deal with the mortgage.

However, if the solicitor was not aware you were using Virgin till later, it is hardly his fault there is a delay.

sgx.saint

G_M wrote: »

At what point did you tell the solicitor you were using a Virgin Money mortgage? If (as you should) when you first instructed him, he should immediately have told you "I am not on their panel".

You could then have instructed a different solicitor, or let Virgin choose one to deal with the mortgage.

However, if the solicitor was not aware you were using Virgin till later, it is hardly his fault there is a delay.

I believe on day one.

Additionally, sitting on the registration paperwork for two weeks, constantly telling me that it is "in hand" and that "it will be submitted shortly" is unacceptable.

Virgin Money advised that the paper should take no more than fifteen minutes to complete.

Leeds_House_Mover

Turns out sometrhing similar has happened with us but sort of in reverse.

Have an existing mortgage with our Building Society and applied for a second mortgage. Gave them our solicitor details at that stage. Got the Approval in Principle through and all was going OK.

A week or so later when they were also asking for things like proof of ID and pay slips they also say that our solicitors are not on their panel.

I've now been in the middle of this asking our solicitor to send through whatever is needed. They have been on the panel in the past. This is now the only thing outstanding and it's taking ages. Seemingly just for the Building Society to file an insurance certificate.

What a pain in the what-not.

stator

They can't charge you the whole fee if they haven't done the whole work. So what they charge you will depend on the work already done and disbursements already incurred.

sgx.saint

They are wanting to charge me £150 + VAT for essentially submitting a note of interest and forwarding me the qualified acceptance letter.

I think this is a little steep considering very little work has been done yet.

pinkshoes

sgx.saint wrote: »

They are wanting to charge me £150 + VAT for essentially submitting a note of interest and forwarding me the qualified acceptance letter.

I think this is a little steep considering very little work has been done yet.

I had this exact same issue a couple of months ago.

Our solicitor weren't on the lender's panel and then told us that they could get on the panel as they met the criteria. They didnt.

Not only did they want to charge us a fee for having to use an additional solicitor, the lender did too, so the extra was over £400.

We then sacked the solicitor and made it very clear that we told them who our lender was, and instructed them on the basis they could get on the panel. Hence no money was due. (One of them was wanting us to pay for "work done" so far).

We instructed a new solicitor and the sale went through very quickly.