Legal Power of Attorney for overseas seller. How long?

heavy_t

I found a great shared ownership flat in early September, made an offer, which was accepted. No chain on either side, then I got quickly processed and accepted by the housing association. I thought everything was going great, until....

The estate agent called me and said there's going to be a delay as the seller lives in Hong Kong and the sale was being handled by a relative in the UK (I think this is her father but nobody seems to be able to tell me for sure). Some kind of document existed re. permission to sell on her behalf but was rejected by the housing association, who want a power of attorney from the court. Nobody seems to be able to tell me how long this might take or even whether the seller has applied for it, or what's going on really. I'm worried that the estate agent and solicitors are happy to just put it to one side and deal with other stuff (let's face it they're not short of other work at the moment) and I'm just left hanging. I'm not sure how serious the seller is.

Anyone got any experience of something similar? Any idea how long these things take? I'm starting to think I should find something else and pull out but I really like the place and it's walking distance to work.

benjus

Can't the vendor just sign the documents themselves and have them couriered over here? There's no need in general for the vendor to be physically here.

Richard_Webster

A Power of attornmey is a simple documetn (assuming the seller is mentally capable) and can be e-mailed and printed out and signed and witnessed in Hong King and sent back.

Seller's solicitors will needto verify the ID of the seller and do money launderingchecks and that may be more complicated.

heavy_t

I think there was a standard power of attorney document but it was rejected by the housing association, who are insisting on a document that has to result from a court hearing or something. I think the seller's agent just put it one the market and the first the housing association knew about the sale was when I contacted them as the buyer. Whether that's !!!!ed them off and they're being awkward I don't know. I think I should call the housing association myself and ask what's going on.

davidmcn

It shouldn't really be causing a hold up - couriering something to and from Hong Kong (like a revised Power of Attorney) needn't take longer than second class post often does within the UK. Reference to a court makes me think there's something more complex involved.

heavy_t

I did a bit of digging today and I think the housing association may have complicated things with a turn of phrase. They said they'd had a power of attorney document but it wasn't legit. She couldn't exactly describe it but I got the impression the family had just typed something up and thought it would do, but the housing association rejected it. She used the phrase "we need a proper document from the court" but when pressed she seemed to just mean a proper legally binding document. All I can do now is chase the estate agent to chase the seller and/or seller's solicitors to sort it or just tell them to do it by courier instead of asking someone in the UK to deal with it.