Halifax error caused delay in completion and no solicitor has sent me an invoice.

mazy_m

Ok so the short (ish ) version is this. Halifax had an issue with CHAPS payments on the day we were meant to complete and despite ringing all day and being told that the payment had gone through it never did and therefore we couldn't complete until the next day.

The solicitor said that I'd have to pay the costs the vendors incurred and then claim this back from Halifax and I went mad and told them there was no way I was paying another penny as I didn't have any sleft after they made us up our deposit by 5% on exchange and they'd have to claim if from Halifax or send it straight to them. The solicitor said ok and that was left at that.

Needless to say I complained to Halifax and they said what did th ey need to do to rectify and I told them the solictors would be sending them the invoice from the vendors and they'd need to pay that of course as it was their fault and that they'd need to refund me my costs and some to say sorry.

Fast forward 8 weeks later and they rang to ask me if I was happy with my costs and a little extra to apologise I said no problem at all.

Then today I received an email from 1st property Lawyers saying I needed to pay the invoice. Considering the fact that no one said to me actually you need to include this in your complaint to Halifax until now I think is shocking and I've not even been given a copy of this invoice either.

I'll be ringing Halifax tomorrow but I've told 1st Property Lawyers that I'm shocked to receive this suddenly now and that no one explained this correctly to me to inform me what to do properly when they were fully aware I was first time buyer and to go as far to agree with me when I said I shall not be paying the invoice and it should go straight to Halifax.

What are my rights/etc in regards to this and who can I complain to about them for not being upfront and honest?

They were OK with most other things and the completion issue was fully due to Halifax and not the 1st property lawyers at all.


Thanks in advance!!

dancingfairy

O.k so your buyer sues you. You can then claim your costs back. You say the solicitor understood the claim was to go straight to Halifax. Whose solicitor? Do you have this in writing? Has the other side agreed in writing to send the invoice to the solicitors?
Has Halifax already paid this money out? It seems strange that they phoned you to check on things.
Df

mazy_m

Hey thanks for the quick reply!!

I told my solicitor to send any invoice they received from the vendors straight to Halifax and for any costs they incurred due to this as this was their mix up. I don't believe the other side would have been told to send the invoice to Halifax as I only instructed mine to do that, In all honesty it didn't occur to me to say that to the other side as that would have been a hell of a lot easier.

Yes Halifax paid it into my account on Christmas Eve so that all went out to pay off my OD so as to avoid fees. I do have a feeling that this wouldn't even touch their costs but that was for my costs and the fact myself, the solicitor and my broker were on the phone to them all day practically trying to sort it all out.

If Halifax tape their calls I mentioned many times the fact that they'd been receiving the bill from the vendors and would have to pay this.

I don't see why they wouldn't pay this I'm more annoyed at the solicitors as I made it clear I didn't want to deal with this and if they'd have said at the time actually love you kinda have to I would've made plans to make sure it was all sorted out properly not to just suddenly receive a random email telling me I'm to pay an invoice.

dancingfairy

So has your solicitor received the invoice? Has it been sent to Halifax? Have they got a copy?
I'm confused that Halifax has paid money into your account if you were expecting them to settle directly. It sounds like a mess to be honest.
Are you clear on what the money paid into your account was for? I assume it's for all your legal costs and Halifax is expecting you to settle directly? If they've already paid out once then they're unlikely to pay out again.
It sounds like their may have been a breakdown in communication.
Df

alchemist.1

I'm not sure what the purpose of mentioning you were first time buyer. No one cares.
Halifax or the cheapo conveyancing factory you instructed.

You need a breakdown of what Halifax paid into your account and for what purpose. Remind them of the telephone conversation confirming their agreement to cover the vendors costs and provide them with a copy of the invoice.

If there was a further fee for Halifax to cover which you were primarily liable for, then it was for you to sort it out in the first instance. The vendors contract was with you not Halifax.

AdrianC

mazy_m wrote: »

...after they made us up our deposit by 5% on exchange

Now why do I suspect another one confused about the two meanings of "deposit"...?

G_M

Rather than getting irate and going mad, try
a) understanding your legal position
b) keeping calm and
c) putting everything clearly (and briefly!) in writing

1) You have a contract with the seller. You failed to complete as per the contract, so the seller has a legal claim against you. The seller has no claim against your mortgage lender (with whome they have no contract/relationship).

2) The reason you failed to compkete was because of the halifax error. You have a contract with them, so you can claim your consequential expenses ie whatever you had to pay the seller, plus any other costs you incurred.

3) your solicitor was not at fault. Certainly he could try to short-cut the process and get the Halifax to pay the seller direct, but he cannot forces them to. And if the seller makes a claim against you, via your solicitor (as is the proper procedure) then of course your solicitor must pass that claim on to you.

So much for the legal position.

Keeping calm I can't help you with, though I strongly advise that all communication, with all these parties, should be done in a clam manner - you get better results that way.

Finally - writing. Always write formally to all parties in circumstances like this. So did you write

i) to Halifax,
a) confirming the problem (late receipt of the funds + date/time)
b) outling the consequence (claim from seller, plus your own costs
c) clarifying what you want (seller's costs, your costs, apology)
????

ii) to the solicitor
a) instructing him to pass you any claim AND copy the Halifax
b) instructing him to keep you informed
??????

I assume 1st property Lawyers is either the seller's original solicitors, or a claims firm now acting for the seller?

Finally, I too don't believe "made us up our deposit by 5% on exchange". I have no doubt you were required to pay the normal 10% on exchange with the remaining 90% on Completion. This is normal practice. It has nothing to do with the amount you are borrowing from your lender (Halifax).

eddddy

It sounds like your solicitor hasn't done a very good job - did you use a "conveyancing factory", possibly with no expertise in litigation?

You (or your solicitor) should have asked your vendor to give you their "full and final claim" for damages.

You could then have added your costs, and made a "full and final claim" for damages from Halifax.

(Halifax would not have agreed to paying bills submitted to them by your vendor... or your vendor's vendor... etc, etc)

The problem you have now is that it sounds like Halifax were asking on the phone if you accepted their payment as "full and final" - and you said "yes".

So you might have to make a call to Halifax to explain the confusion and apologise. Or perhaps find a litigation solicitor to deal with it.

mazy_m

Hi all thanks for your replies.

The 5% extra was just that on the day of exchange they decided that actually they couldn't lend us 90% and could only lend us 85% so luckily I'd already decided to pay off my credit cards and had that in my account for that so we could go ahead with exchange. It actually brought our interest rates down and of course the payments were then even less a month so that worked out OK in the end but meant I had no what if budget.

In regards to Halifax the money paid in was for me to settle the costs I incurred and they were aware that a bill was coming from either my solicitors or the vendors solicitors as it was their fault that it didn't happen I was never to be given that money to then pay out to them and when this initially happened ( the completion delay) I asked my solicitors what this meant and they told me that I'd have to pay their costs and then claim them back from Halifax and I told them I didn't want to see that bill at all and it could get sent straight to Halifax.

I mentioned I was a first time buyer as of course my solicitors were aware of this and knew I didn't have experience of what happens when it fails to complete for any reason.

My issue is that if the solicitors knew I'd have to ultimately pay the invoice and then claim back from Halifax to why did they agree to the above ( it being sent straight to Halifax either via them however) and why didn't they say to me actually you will need to pay it and include it in your compensation claim. This was never told to me and the first I heard about this was today 6th January and we completed on the 30th October. If I had been told of this sooner I would have included it in my complaint ( I wouldn't have had a figure but I could have told them more about this rather than just in passing as I did so that they were aware that it was coming from the solicitors.)

I'll give them a call tomorrow and they shouldn't be shocked as they know it's on it's way but didn't expect it to be via myself.

I do believe the solicitors have advised me wrong and misinformed me or not corrected me so I wish to make a complaint about them not about the invoice the vendor is entitled to submit a claim. I felt bad enough they had to stay in a hotel for the night with their child.

TBagpuss

your conveyancers can't cntrol what Halifax do. Your conveyancers would be unlikely to be familiar with litigation.
Did yuou kep your conveyancer fully informed each time you heard from Halifax? Did you keep them infomred about the money you recied from halifax? When Halifax contact you, did you tell them that eveything was suppsoed to go via your coveyancer?

I am not clear from your posts who the invoice is from? Is it from your buyer's conveyancer, or your own?