wording on a letter (factor fees)

lydriver

looking for a little help with wording on a copy of a letter I received


on a letter from the factor (to the sellers solicitor) it mentions the amount outstanding on the account and also an estimated amount due to the date of sale, it then says "we request the that the sum of £££ be retained from the sale proceeds to settle these accounts"

on the same letter from the factor it also mentions an apportionment fee, which I understand means an admin fee to split the cost between old and new owner?


on the sellers solicitors letter it says "we enclose a copy of the letter received from the factors....we confirm that we will retain the sums requested"


just got a bill from the factors which includes charges before the date of sale, to me the above means I should only be paying for anything after the date of sale?
no mention of the apportionment fee on this invoice

davidmcn

Depends what the charges are, but you should only be paying for costs incurred after your date of entry. Were the factors given the correct date of entry? (sometimes it gets delayed and people forget to tell them)

lydriver

I'll have to check (don't have letter with me) but I think they're just listed as common charges, the outstanding from before the date of sale is definitely on the bill I just received

it's the 'we confirm that we will retain the sums requested' (on letter from sellers solicitor to mine) that I'm unsure about

does that mean they will pay the amount the factors are requesting? (at the time of that letter)

davidmcn

The factors' final bill to the sellers normally isn't produced until after the date of entry (because some invoices will take a while to be processed), so the norm is that they send it to the sellers' solicitors and they pay it from the funds they retained. If you've received a bill addressed to you from the factors including things dating from before the date of entry then I suggest you query it.

lydriver

thanks again, the retained bit makes sense now

strange how there's the letter from the factors to the sellers solicitors stating the outstanding amount + estimated common charges to the date of sale then an invoice to me with the outstanding amount listed

could 'date of sale' ever mean the date the offer was accepted....it doesn't say 'date of entry' on the factors letter