Costs Demands After Completion

PasturesNew

Ultimately, somebody has to pay it - the solicitor probably paid it so they could minimise any costs going forward.

The fact the solicitor paid both 1%s is a red herring because it had to be paid at some time (soonest) by somebody.

There is only one issue here: do you have any comeback on the solicitor not noticing.

marka09

Thanks for all the comments and replies so far. From reading all of them it looks like the amount will have to be paid but what I need to clarify is the solicitors negligence in not doing the job they were paid for and what potential compensation I can claim for that.

As TBagpuss correctly points out, if I had known about the extra fees due that may have influenced the sale price and offer that was accepted.

AdrianC

If they aren't asking you to pay any costs, what are you wanting compensation for?

You aren't spending one single penny more than you would have been if these expenses had been discovered before completion.

You can say "But I might have asked for more money..." - well, yes, you might... But if you were buying, and part way through the legals the vendor said "Oh, btw, I've just discovered I need to pay 2% to the freeholder, so I'd like 2% more from you, please" I rather suspect your answer would have been the same as mine - "Nope, you accepted that price. If you'd prefer, I'll walk away right now."

specialboy

You can claim compensation for any loss caused to you by their mistake, have you lost anything?

[Deleted User]

As I have recently heard of two cases where emails from Solictors were seemingly sent from the Solicitors (detailing a change of bank account - when the buyer tried to find out why their money sent to purchase the house had vanished, she found the emails were sent from elsewhere).., I'd be phoning the office to confirm they have actually sent these emails before sending any money.

TBagpuss

DeannaTrois makes a good point. I'd understood that your initial contact was a phone call, but either way, double check.

http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/scam-alerts/scam-alerts.page has details of *known* scams but of course not all will be reported or identified.

DRP

specialboy wrote: »

You can claim compensation for any loss caused to you by their mistake, have you lost anything?

I'd be wanting at least a partial refund of my fees to them.

They were instructed to carry out a professional service. If they have ballsed up, then they haven't really provided that service.

ReadingTim

DRP wrote: »

I'd be wanting at least a partial refund of my fees to them.

They were instructed to carry out a professional service. If they have ballsed up, then they haven't really provided that service.

While they haven't provided a particularly good service, they appear to be rectifying earlier oversights and have taken action to prevent their client (the OP) being in breach of contract. The client is liable for these costs, and assuming no interest has been charged for late payment, is not out of pocket for the oversight of this clause in the lease (or where ever it was).

The OP is liable for the charges, and for paying the solicitors for the work they undertook at the time, and subsequently. He is not out of pocket, nor in a worse situation than if the lease had been read correctly in the first place. However, he cannot expect to be put into a better position than had the work been carried out correctly, save for some sort of "goodwill" amount to reflect apologies for any inconvenience, which is entirely discretionary.