Conveyancing solicitor extraordinarily slow

arlywarly

Hope I can get some feedback regarding the buying process of a house purchase, and when to expect to complete.
We had a (cash) offer on a property accepted at the end of May (my dad has kindly offered the funds). The lady who lives there needed to find sheltered accommodation, which she has now done and can move at the end of this month (August).
Our solicitor (or the secretary at least) came across as reliable at first. It is only along the way that we have found out that the solicitor is only working part time until they retire in September. It seems nothing is getting done. We have no chain (as we do not need to sell our house in order to finance the new property) so cannot understand the delays. They haven't given us any explanation, and will not commit to an exchange/completion date. Phoning doesn't help, as despite being told someone will call back, noone ever does, We continue to email the secretary (have given up copying the solicitor in as it made no difference) in a friendly manner, but are not even getting an acknowledgment, let alone any updates. The estate agent for the vendor has been trying to push from her end, but doesn't get anywhere either. Is there anything we can do to push things along? We're doing our best to remain nice and friendly with the secretary as she our main point of contact , but we get the impression she is at the end of her tether. We are at a loss as to what we can do now.
Any input would be much appreciated.

david1951

Does the solicitor work for a larger firm or alone? If a larger firm then you can contact the partner responsible for complaints (usually the senior partner) and request that a new solicitor is appointed. Say you need the sale to proceed ASAP and the only thing holding it up is the solicitor.

If the solicitor is working alone you can send an email to the effect of "unless the solicitor satisfies you that they are working diligently on the case you will remove your instruction". Again, say you are very concerned that the sale will not proceed and this is down to them.

If you did remove instruction they would have to hand to you all of the files they have in respect of your case, and you could take these to a new solicitor. However, this would have cost implications and would probably be a last resort, for example if the vendor threatens to put the house back on the market etc.

G_M

Escalate?

Look up the firm's complaints procedure. It should be in the T&Cs they gave you at the start, and/or on their website.

Write a fomal letter of complaint detail dates, number of unanswered communications, lack of explanation on reason for dealy, lack of information on progress.

arlywarly

Think we're being too "British" about this and don't like to complain, but there's only so much we can put up with! Have just emailed to say we're going to go in tomorrow so they can explain in person what is going on.

arlywarly

Hmm...just been told over the phone that it's all down to the vendor's solicitor not being proactive in chasing things. Been assured they have no firm date for retiring, so will be around for completion. Were told not to bother going in to see them today as there was no point. So I guess we wait a few more days.

TBagpuss

In that case, it is worth speaking to the vendors (who can chase the vendor and their solicitor)

However, you can still raise with you r wo nsolicitor you concerns that they have not responded to queries, or returned calls. Those are matters which directly relate to the service which they are providing to you.

I am not in favour of costantly chasing conveyancers ad most will tell you whenever there is any deveopment, but if they are repeatedly fialing to respond to queries or return calls that it a valid concern.

What I would do is to ask them to set out for you what, specifcally, they are currently waiting for, when they fiisrt requested theose docuemtns / information from the seller and when they chased, and what (if any) response they have had, and how long, in their expeirnece, they would normally expect it to take for theat type of information to be provided.

That allows you to be specifc in chasing the vendors agents (also, if you chase the agents not the solicitor you are not adding to your own costs!)