Solicitor failed to inform us about our land being conservation area

da_rule

ronniemac123 wrote: »

Thank you! It seems we were not sent this, only Land Registry folios (maybe it's the same thing) that don't contain any info on the land being an SSSI. the solicitor confirmed in a meeting with us, and in a letter they sent they knew about the special status of the land, but forgot to mention it to us. I'm guessing they might not have sent us that document originally, and unfortunately I wouldn't know that it was something we should be shown.

An example result is here: http://pennine-ways.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/local-search.pdf

This uses the questions that were in use in 2015 which were revised in 2016, but as far as I can see the questions haven't changed in relation to 1.2.

Yes, if your solicitor knew about it then they should have reported on it to you. A bigger concern may be whether or not it was reported to your lender (if you have one).

davidmcn

da_rule wrote: »

A bigger concern may be whether or not it was reported to your lender (if you have one).

Not sure why that would be a bigger concern? Failing to tell the lender only matters if and when the lender repossesses.

da_rule

Before you go to the Ombudsman you must have complained to the solicitors. This means putting your compliant in writing and giving them a chance to rectify it.

However, you may be better off reporting them to the SRA as you are not really complaining about poor service, you are potentially complaining that they failed to follow some of the SRA Principles.

Some other issues you may want to consider:
1) Insurance - inform your building insurance.
2) Mortgage - inform your mortgage lender, you haven't done anything wrong (yet), but as you now know you should tell them, they may also need to consider whether they want to action against the solicitor.

da_rule

davidmcn wrote: »

Not sure why that would be a bigger concern? Failing to tell the lender only matters if and when the lender repossesses.

Or if your terms and conditions put an onus on you to notify the lender if you become aware of anything that potentially affects the value of the property.

Also, if read in the context of the rest of that paragraph, the solicitor not only has a duty to the Op but to the lender (if there was one) and seeing as, in most cases, the lender puts up most of the money, I'd be more worried about having them after me if I was the solicitor.

ronniemac123

Davesnave wrote: »

I'm no expert, but I'd imagine that the best route would be to obtain a judgement from the Ombudsman first, as that would indicate the seriousness of any claim you might have.

It's good to get someone else's opinion on that so thank you! I think that's what we'll do for now and see where that takes us. There aren't any specific activities we should undertake, although they advise light grazing.

ronniemac123

da_rule wrote: »

Or if your terms and conditions put an onus on you to notify the lender if you become aware of anything that potentially affects the value of the property.

Also, if read in the context of the rest of that paragraph, the solicitor not only has a duty to the Op but to the lender (if there was one) and seeing as, in most cases, the lender puts up most of the money, I'd be more worried about having them after me if I was the solicitor.

Thank you! I wouldn't have even thought about it. I will notify them this week. This forum is very informative!

moneyistooshorttomention

Was the solicitors admission they mucked up in writing or verbal?

I would have thought that if you've actually got it in writing from their "own fair (inefficient) hand" then surely you have a good case for compensation from them for this.

Even if they just admitted it verbally - there might be a chance on this perhaps?

da_rule

ronniemac123 wrote: »

Thank you! I wouldn't have even thought about it. I will notify them this week. This forum is very informative!

Obviously only tell them if you have to. Although you might want to anyway. Or you could address it in your formal complaint to the solicitor and put the onus on them to decide whether they want to report themselves to your lender.

ronniemac123

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Was the solicitors admission they mucked up in writing or verbal?

I would have thought that if you've actually got it in writing from their "own fair (inefficient) hand" then surely you have a good case for compensation from them for this.

Even if they just admitted it verbally - there might be a chance on this perhaps?

We are quite lucky as they admitted to the "omission" in a letter to us (and verbally). I am feeling a lot more positive about it then when I started this thread so thanks to everyone who took their time to explain our position better to me and all the helpful hints!

davidmcn

da_rule wrote: »

the solicitor not only has a duty to the Op but to the lender (if there was one) and seeing as, in most cases, the lender puts up most of the money, I'd be more worried about having them after me if I was the solicitor.

But the lender only has a loss in respect of which they can pursue the solicitor if and when they repossess and end up with a shortfall.