Can I give my solicitor a deadline?

alcur

Good evening guys,

I've previously posted about buying a leasehold flat. The conveyancing process has been ongoing since October. Tomorrow we are entering the 7th week of the process.

I haven't purchased a property before so I'm not 100% sure of the exact process etc but I thought because I was a cash buyer it should speed the process up a bit?

I instructed solicitors on the 15th October and paid £250 for local searches. I was advised at the time that the area in which I am buying, the council is not the quickest to return the searches which I accepted.

My solicitor has not been forthcoming with updates. Each time I have had an update it has been when I have requested one myself. I asked if there was any update and on the 12th November I was advised all searches were back and all paperwork was received from the sellers solicitor.

Now I don't know how long it generally takes to review all of the paperwork or the searches etc but I emailed them again on the 25th November and they advised the solicitor is still reviewing all of the paperwork for any queries.

Does it really take 2 weeks plus+ to review the paperwork? If there are any queries I'm also going to have to wait for them to be passed over to the sellers solicitor and answered which will take time. My solicitor seem to send everything by 2nd Class post or take forever to reply to emails!

I had wanted the process wrapped up fairly quickly as I want to do some work in the flat and was (hopefully) wanting to be in before Christmas but this seems unlikely now.

So my question is, can I email or call the solicitor and give them, say a deadline of 11th December to get the whole process wrapped up or is it a case of tough luck you'll just have to wait? I know the seller is desperate to sell so I would think the sooner the better for them also.

To say I am unimpressed with my solicitor would be an understatement. This is my first purchase and will certainly be the last I use with this firm of solicitors.

Thanks for your help.

alcur

Old_Git

you can ask the solicitor to push for 11th December .The seller may want to sell but do they want to move before Christmas .Is there anyone else in the chain .Where is the seller moving to .

justme111

I suppose you can stop your your solicitor acting for you in the purchase at any time and you perfectly can tell them you will on December the 11th. What is the point though? You will be without a flat , sale will be stopped until you instruct new solicitor.

alcur

Old_Git wrote: »

you can ask the solicitor to push for 11th December .The seller may want to sell but do they want to move before Christmas .Is there anyone else in the chain .Where is the seller moving to .

No chain involved. I am moving out of rented and the flat is empty as the owner lives in another property.

justme111 wrote: »

I suppose you can stop your your solicitor acting for you in the purchase at any time and you perfectly can tell them you will on December the 11th. What is the point though? You will be without a flat , sale will be stopped until you instruct new solicitor.

To be honest, I don't really "want" to stop them acting for me as I am aware it will take more time to instruct a new solicitor I just want to give them a deadline to hopefully try and hurry them up a bit!

Thrugelmir

alcur wrote: »

To say I am unimpressed with my solicitor would be an understatement. This is my first purchase and will certainly be the last I use with this firm of solicitors.

I'd reserve judgement until the process is completed. Forming a view at such an early stage is based on emotion rather than hard fact.

bigfreddiel

I found that asking for regular updates from my solicitor when I moved the last time was a way of ensuring things kept on moving. Emphasise you need updates even if there is no progress, they may charge for this but it may be worth it. Also ask what's holding up progress and see if you can chase it up yourself.

Cheers fj

kinger101

Sadly, the whole process usually takes longer than it ought to. You're not your solicitor's only client, and they're not likely in my experience to turn around documents the moment they come in.

You've nothing to gain by setting your solicitor an ultimatum. You'll still have to pay them for the work they've done thus far, and their replacement might not be any faster.

The best you can do is to keep asking for updates to prompt them.

camptownraces

Have you yet seen the seller's reply to the standard enquiries?

This is a flat.
Has your solicitor yet been given a copy of the lease, and what issues has that raised?
What about freeholder, service charges and so on: are you clear what is involved? so have you seen freeholder's reply to enquiries?

If not, you have a long way to go with this purchase.

G_M

It always takes longer than people want or expect.

However, why not ring up (or better still pop in) and ask

* what is still outstanding on your solicitor's side
* what is still outstanding on the other side
* what is stil outstanding from 3rd parties

and whether your solicitor expects to be able to hit your dates (Exchange &/or completion).

alcur

camptownraces wrote: »

Have you yet seen the seller's reply to the standard enquiries?

This is a flat.
Has your solicitor yet been given a copy of the lease, and what issues has that raised?
What about freeholder, service charges and so on: are you clear what is involved? so have you seen freeholder's reply to enquiries?

If not, you have a long way to go with this purchase.

My solicitor has been given the management pack from the freeholder. I'm not aware myself of what issues have been brought up all I know is they have sent all enquiries off to the sellers solicitor.

I have been told once these have been answered they will invite me in to to through the documentation.

arbrighton

and until the seller's sol send enquiries back, with satisfactory answers (not as easy as this might seem), there is little YOUR sol can do....