Solicitor and lender blaming each other for failure to complete on expected day

jimbob3

I recently had a mortgage which failed to complete on the expected day because of a failure of communication between the solicitor and lender. The solicitors emailed the lenders to set the completion date a week from that time, the lenders then apparently emailed back the next day to say that one of the forms was incomplete. They did this by sending a letter as an encrypted attachment and then the password as a second email, the solicitors claim to have received the password email but not the email with the attachment. Neither party did anything till the day of completion when the solicitors finally called the lenders at lunchtime to ask why the funds had not been sent and were told the form was still outstanding. The solicitors then emailed me a form to complete which I did, then it turned they had sent the wrong form and by the time they had sent me the correct one it was too late for the lenders to release the funds that day.

Thankfully this was a remortgage not a house purchase so the only cost was one days interest which the solicitors paid, however they are refusing to accept any fault and blame the lenders for not telling them about the incomplete form. The lenders of course blame the solicitors, so who is at fault? Is it not part of the solicitors job to confirm that everything is in order with the lenders before setting completion?

davidmcn

jimbob3 wrote: »

Is it not part of the solicitors job to confirm that everything is in order with the lenders before setting completion?

The norm is that the solicitors send the Certificate of Title to the lender and expect to receive the funds on the day they asked for. They don't necessarily get confirmation in the interim that the lender is happy with the certificate or doesn't require anything further.

G_M

So your loss has been one days interest which you've been re-imbursed for?


This is a non-issue. Move on.

phillw

jimbob3 wrote: »

They did this by sending a letter as an encrypted attachment and then the password as a second email, the solicitors claim to have received the password email but not the email with the attachment.

It's weird that the lender would do this. If you're able to intercept the encrypted attachment then it's reasonable to expect you'd be able to also intercept the email with the password as well.

If the solicitor received the password but didn't think to ask what it was for, then I'm not sure I'd trust them with any future work. Especially if there was any reason they should have known you were being asked to fill in the wrong form.

They sound as bad as each other to be honest, although whether anyone else is going to be any better is another matter.

jimbob3

G_M wrote: »

So your loss has been one days interest which you've been re-imbursed for?


This is a non-issue. Move on.

Obviously in this case I have not suffered a financial loss, however if I had actually been moving house this would have been a complete disaster and it winds me up that neither party seems to accept any responsibility for the mortgage completion?

saajan_12

jimbob3 wrote: »

I recently had a mortgage which failed to complete on the expected day because of a failure of communication between the solicitor and lender. The solicitors emailed the lenders to set the completion date a week from that time, the lenders then apparently emailed back the next day to say that one of the forms was incomplete. They did this by sending a letter as an encrypted attachment and then the password as a second email, the solicitors claim to have received the password email but not the email with the attachment. - if the solicitor just missed the attachment then its their fault. If the lender didn't sent it, still not sure the lender can be held liable as they have no obligation to keep track of your forms. Should the solicitor have sent the form ages ago? Neither party did anything till the day of completion when the solicitors finally called the lenders at lunchtime to ask why the funds had not been sent and were told the form was still outstanding. The solicitors then emailed me a form to complete which I did, then it turned they had sent the wrong form and by the time they had sent me the correct one it was too late for the lenders to release the funds that day. - Ah, so this was something you had to complete. What was the form about? Did you / your sols not chase about it earlier?

Thankfully this was a remortgage not a house purchase so the only cost was one days interest which the solicitors paid, - AH! So your remaining losses as a result of this = £0 however they are refusing to accept any fault and blame the lenders for not telling them about the incomplete form. - why does it matter whether they accept fault? The lenders of course blame the solicitors, so who is at fault? Is it not part of the solicitors job to confirm that everything is in order with the lenders before setting completion?

Either it is solicitors fault => £0 claim
or solicitors not at fault => £0 claim.

Clear case of no harm, no foul.

jimbob3

phillw wrote: »

It's weird that the lender would do this. If you're able to intercept the encrypted attachment then it's reasonable to expect you'd be able to also intercept the email with the password as well.

If the solicitor received the password but didn't think to ask what it was for, then I'm not sure I'd trust them with any future work. Especially if there was any reason they should have known you were being asked to fill in the wrong form.

They sound as bad as each other to be honest, although whether anyone else is going to be any better is another matter.

Well I certainly won't be trusting them with any future work, but as you say how can you ensure that another solicitor would be any better if they can just avoid taking responsibility when things go wrong?

davidmcn

If there were some problem with drawdown or the certificate of title I'd normally expect the lender to phone the solicitor to discuss, rather than them just sending an email and then sitting on their hands.

jimbob3

saajan_12 wrote: »

Either it is solicitors fault => £0 claim
or solicitors not at fault => £0 claim.

Clear case of no harm, no foul.

thanks for your reply - however the reason I was asking was not to claim compensation but to avoid any complications next time I move house. I was assuming that a competent solicitor should get confirmation from the lender that everything is in order not just assume everything is ok because they haven't heard anything back?

jimbob3

davidmcn wrote: »

If there were some problem with drawdown or the certificate of title I'd normally expect the lender to phone the solicitor to discuss, rather than them just sending an email and then sitting on their hands.

Exactly. Next time I do move house I think I will insist that the solicitor has actually spoken to the lender and also that they get the funds the day before to avoid any potential issues, getting the funds on the day just seems to risky in case there are any issues especially if you are in a chain..

saajan_12

jimbob3 wrote: »

thanks for your reply - however the reason I was asking was not to claim compensation but to avoid any complications next time I move house. I was assuming that a competent solicitor should get confirmation from the lender that everything is in order not just assume everything is ok because they haven't heard anything back?

And you think hounding them to accept "fault" will *improve* your working relationship to be able to use them in future?

Not necessarily, if a lender doesn't issue confirmation then no news = everything ok. The solicitor isn't in the business of re-confirming and re-re-confirming every stage.

jimbob3 wrote: »

Exactly. Next time I do move house I think I will insist that the solicitor has actually spoken to the lender and also that they get the funds the day before to avoid any potential issues, getting the funds on the day just seems to risky in case there are any issues especially if you are in a chain..

If you want a extra, highly personalised, hand-held service where your file is top of everyone's minds, then sure go ahead and insisit. Expect to pay for it though, either as hourly for the extra checks / phone calls or a higher overall conveyancing charge.