Solicitors seem to be dragging their feet :( advice?

PrincessJR

Hi,

I may be worrying unecessarily but this has frustrated me...

We are in the process of selling our house and buying another. The whole process is being dealt with by the same Solicitors. We accepted an offer on our house 3 weeks ago and got the ball rolling with our solicitor by instructing them to act on our behalf. Our seller did the same. Since then nothing seems to have happened apart from both Solicitors writing to each other initially.

I got an email today from our buyers saying that their solicitor has still not received the paperwork they need from our solicitor to conduct the searches etc. We completed this and handed it in the the office last Tuesday so assumed it was now well on it's way. I have just called our solicitors to be told that the main person dealing with things is on annual leave, and the person covering him is now also on annual leave!? As one of the biggest things in our lives right now it is incredibly frustrating and disheartening to know that the all important paperwork is probably sitting in someones 'in' tray and all we can do is wait.

We're paying £575+VAT for their service with selling and a further £795+VAT for our purchase and to be honest it's made me quite worried about continuing with them. If they are dragging their heels at this early stage, it could be 6 months before we're in our new home!

Can anyone give me any advice - is this quite usual with solicitors?

Our buyers don't have to apply for a mortgage so initially our solicitor estimated 6 weeks until completion. Im assuming that didnt take into consideration the annual leave!

Any help appreciated

davidmcn

Those are the risks of wanting your conveyancing done over the summer holiday period - anybody covering for a colleague is going to be prioritising work which is time-critical, rather than the early stages of transactions. To be honest, taking into account postal delays and the possibility that your buyer hasn't actually been told the up to date position by their solicitor, it doesn't sound like much of a delay.

Thrugelmir

What's happening further up the chain with the house you are buying?

Do you require a mortgage?

Have you paid your solicitor for the search fees?

PrincessJR

Thrugelmir wrote: »

What's happening further up the chain with the house you are buying?

Do you require a mortgage?

Have you paid your solicitor for the search fees?

Further up - the house we're buying is owned by relatives of the previous owner so no chain (we're the middle-man in effect between our buyers and our sellers)

We have applied for our mortgage and yes we've paid for the searches etc...

upoiupou

Estate agents will often chase solicitors. They're motivated to get things to exchange and secure their fees. They are also in a position to talk to the solicitors on both sides. Are there agents involved and if so are they doing anything to move things along?

My experience is that someone needs to be chasing the solicitors regularly. If you keep pestering them, and keep pestering the agent to pester them, your purchase/sale is more likely to get attended to. But avoid Fridays because they'll be busy with completions.

Not all practices will have a colleague covering during holidays. Some bring in a locum so there's full-time cover. Either way, I don't think summer is an excuse for delays. You aren't paying a reduced summer fee so they should progress the work as usual.

I actually checked before appointing a solicitor that he wouldn't be going on holiday during the next two months. He replied no. When things stalled after a couple of weeks into the purchase I contacted the office and discovered he'd retired! The person covering kept telling me she hadn't had time to read my file yet but I rang so often she took it home with her over the weekend (and made a point of telling me this - much I cared). That probably makes me sound like a horrible person, but I was reasonable and nice - just very, very insistent.

I would keep on and on at them, and at the estate agent/s so they will too.

MillyR

Aagghh, exactly the same is happening to us- seller's solicitor and his replacement both off on holiday- and we're waiting urgently to exchange and complete as I start my new job on monday!

I wish there was a magical solution but I guess we just have to wait, and fork out for hotels...

anselld

PrincessJR wrote: »

Can anyone give me any advice - is this quite usual with solicitors?

Yes, normal. You are only three weeks in. Three months would be more of a worry.

Most of the legal work is towards the back end of the process. Concentrate on getting surveys, mortgage offers, etc. You will have more leverage to chase the Solicitors if they do become the holding factor.

PrincessJR wrote: »

Further up - the house we're buying is owned by relatives of the previous owner so no chain (we're the middle-man in effect between our buyers and our sellers)

Is this a probate sale? That can also slow things down.