Solicitor failed to register with land registry

p_thornton1985

Hello

We purchased a property in February 2015. We are in the final stages of selling, but today our current (selling) solicitor confirmed our old (buying) solicitor had not reigstered the title. They have also not placed [FONT=&quot]‘priority’on the property which I'm told they absolutely must do. It looks as though this may delay our completion as, I'm told, technically, the property is not ours.

I'm not one for sueing, but I would certainly want to look into a partial refund based on the fact we were simply forgotten, and the fact the solicitor did not do what they were required to do. I was contacted in December by the same lawyers and told they requird £200 to complete the registration (it's a flat, and the fee was apparently for the management company). However, they included the email chain, and at the bottom was an email dated June where the management company explains the issue. The lawyers, therefore, also took 5 month to pass on the message to us!

If you have any thoughts on this, and the best way to approach it, that would be great.

Many thanks

Paul






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AlexMac

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/for-the-public/faqs/complaining-about-a-solicitor/

...with, later, a suggested remedy?

G_M

Step one is a formal complaint to the original firm. Look up their complaints procedure and follow it.

Keep the complaint short and o the point, but list what they did wrong, with evidence attached, and say what you want done to put things right (eg finish the registration asap, compensation for inconvenience, compensation for delay to your sale etc)

If that does not work, escalate to the Legal Ombudsman

ReadingTim

What was the £200 for, and have you paid it? If not, and the fee is validly due, then I can't see how this is the solicitor's fault. And even if the fee isn't valid, it might be quicker (in terms of progressing the sale) to pay it yourself and claim it back from the negligent party after the event, rather than hold up the sale.

If the negligent party doesn't pay, then complain, via the route outlined above. However, in terms of refunds and compensation, given the matter has since been sorted at no additional charge, I can't see any loss you've incurred, so don't think you'll have much joy, other than perhaps a 'goodwill gesture' if they're feeling generous, or want you to go away. Sorry.

Thrugelmir

p_thornton1985 wrote: »

The lawyers, therefore, also took 5 month to pass on the message to us!

Now February so what action have you taken!

Or did you think that you needn't pay as you were in the process of selling.

p_thornton1985

Hi

Thanks for your help. According to the letter, the £200 was for a certificate of compliance which, I'm lead to believe, the solicitor had to receive from the estate management company before doing anything with the registry. I did pay in early december - I exchanged a few emails with the solicitors because I was furious about being told about this in late October and I was also a bit suspicious about them just turning up and asking for more money (I only saw the letter from the lawyer at this time, so basically it was just a request for more money, without evidence it was required).

I paid in early December. I have since been told they my solicitors sent a cheque for £200 at the end of december, which they say explains the delay (Christmas post, holidays, etc).

FYI - they were able to complete the land registry yesterday (the day I made the initial complaint), which to me tell me they could have done it, and just forgot about it, thought I might be wrong.

Cheers

Paul

p_thornton1985

Hi Thrugel,

I'm not sure what action I could have taken - I only found out about this yesterday. As I say, I was originally told I was required to pay £200 in October. I paid it. I asked for updates to confirm it was done following my payment, I did not get any. When I made a complaint yesterday, they managed to complete the reigstry on the same day.

megaginge

Hey, I'm in a similar position to you except trying to remortgage. Mine's been going on for 2 years.

Was there some issue with the LR applications when you bought the property that meant it never got sorted? Consider opening a case with the LR to ask about the history of applications for your property,it might shine some light onto what the coneyancers have been up to. In my case, my conveyancers had tried on 4 separate occasions to register title deeds, but were rejected due to lack of supporting evidence around a boundary dispute. Rather than contact me at any point they just sat on it. I only found out when LR searches for my new mortgage were done. I imagine you only found out about this when the people buying your property attempted to get their mortgage and THEIR conveyancers reported couldn't find title deeds?

There should at the very least BY NOW be a priority search on your property. Even this could take a month or so to go through. Is that what you're saying they submitted yesterday?

Chase the hell out of your old conveyancers, get a very clear picture of what they didn't do.

smallholdingsister

This happened to us about ten years ago.
We complained to the complaints partner of the firm and got £250 back.