Retention question

Berger_3

Hi all,

I will try to keep this brief. I sold my flat on 31/03/2015, a retention of £3700 was agreed as it was suggested that there would be a shortfall arising from some cyclical renovation works carried out a year or two before. It was suggested that there would be a shortfall of roughly this value, but the final accounts had not been finalised at the time the sale went through.

I then forgot all about it assuming it was all settled shortly after I sold. fast forward to today and I get a email from my solicitor advising me that they still have the funds and that they have tried to contact the buyers Solicitor but have not heard anything back from them.

This is now almost two years later. I find it hard to believe the accounts still haven't been finalised and strange that the buyers Solicitor hasn't responded to mine.

Does anybody know where I stand and where to go from here? is there time limit that my solictor can hold the funds? what happens if the buyers Solicitor doesn't come back to mine, do they just have to hold them indefinitely?

Thank you in advance for any help.

buggy_boy

Berger_3 wrote: »

Hi all,

I will try to keep this brief. I sold my flat on 31/03/2015, a retention of £3700 was agreed as it was suggested that there would be a shortfall arising from some cyclical renovation works carried out a year or two before. It was suggested that there would be a shortfall of roughly this value, but the final accounts had not been finalised at the time the sale went through.

I then forgot all about it assuming it was all settled shortly after I sold. fast forward to today and I get a email from my solicitor advising me that they still have the funds and that they have tried to contact the buyers Solicitor but have not heard anything back from them.

This is now almost two years later. I find it hard to believe the accounts still haven't been finalised and strange that the buyers Solicitor hasn't responded to mine.

Does anybody know where I stand and where to go from here? is there time limit that my solictor can hold the funds? what happens if the buyers Solicitor doesn't come back to mine, do they just have to hold them indefinitely?

Thank you in advance for any help.

You probably need to be asking these things to your solicitor, sounds like the buyers also forgot...

G_M

What were the terms of tthe retention? They will have been written down nd agreed, so look them up and either ask your solicitor, or quote them here for us.

There is probably a ttime limit after which the money is yours.

Berger_3

G_M wrote: »

What were the terms of tthe retention? They will have been written down nd agreed, so look them up and either ask your solicitor, or quote them here for us.

There is probably a ttime limit after which the money is yours.

Thank you. I have emailed the Solicitor back and I am just awaiting their response. I think the solicitor who dealt with my case has left hence why they haven't come back to me with any just answers yet and why i posted on here.

need_an_answer

Have you tried contacting the management company of the flats to establish if the work was ever needed or subsequently carried out. You may find that they are quicker to deal with directly if the solicitors who were originally dealing have moved on.

At least by querying with the management company you may be able to then direct the solicitor to a named contact.

I have seen at least one retention that did not specify a time limit other than "until suitable rectification has taken place" concerning a roofing issue. That would seem a little of a grey area but hopefully your retention will have been more specific

Berger_3

need_an_answer wrote: »

Have you tried contacting the management company of the flats to establish if the work was ever needed or subsequently carried out. You may find that they are quicker to deal with directly if the solicitors who were originally dealing have moved on.

At least by querying with the management company you may be able to then direct the solicitor to a named contact.

I have seen at least one retention that did not specify a time limit other than "until suitable rectification has taken place" concerning a roofing issue. That would seem a little of a grey area but hopefully your retention will have been more specific

I have emailed them today to ask, I called but was told I had to submit it via their contact form. They are a notoriously terrible management agent (A2 Dominion) and the scars of having to deal with them around the time of the sale have only just healed.

Knowing them in many respects it doesn't surprise me if two years later they have still not finalised the figures, but at the same time these were works carried out a good year or so before I sold and they seemed to have a good idea about how much extra it had cost at the time of sale. I'd assume all the contractors involved would have been paid for the work involved a long time ago, so im unclear as to what the hold up could have been if indeed there was one at all.

Berger_3

This is what the Solicitor has come back with:

thank you for your earlier email. We do not hold the funds indefinitely only until an invoice is produced. We will continue chasing and update you as soon as we have any further news.

Which is fairly contradictory as if they cannot get an invoice from them I'm not sure what happens next