Conveyancing Solicitor Complaint

Chemical_Grrl

Hi all

I'll try and summarise this as much as I can, we are purchasing a property and due to the poor service provided by our solicitor I raised a complaint via their internal complaints process, she wasn't answering our queries or just giving one word answers rather than explaining things to us, she also implied she had advised us of something that she hadn't and when I asked her for evidence of the advice she just said she had nothing further to add (instead of owning up to her mistake) she also wrongly told us our lender wouldn't lend to us because of the lease length left and we had a month wait while she queried it with the lender which was very stressful for us because our lender could have withdrawn their offer, all in all really bad service. We exchanged contracts yesterday and as part of the completion process the solicitor wants us to pay the remaining balance of their fee, they have six weeks to answer our complaint so I am going to propose that we withhold the conveyancing fee until our complaint has been answered in full and just pay them for the searches, land registry and a few other fees. Their conveyancing fee is £650 plus £130 VAT, does anyone know if we have a right to do this? I think this is a resonable approach, I would like them to offer a discount from their fee for the poor service so whilst I'm willing to pay some of the fee I'm not paying all of it, thoughts??

davidmcn

Chemical_Grrl wrote: »

she also wrongly told us our lender wouldn't lend to us because of the lease length left and we had a month wait while she queried it with the lender

If the lease length was different from that assumed in the lender's valuation then yes, it would need to be queried with the lender. If the problem was that the lender took a long time to answer then that's a complaint you (might) have against the lender.

the solicitor wants us to pay the remaining balance of their fee...I am going to propose that we withhold the conveyancing fee until our complaint has been answered in full and just pay them for the searches, land registry and a few other fees. Their conveyancing fee is £650 plus £130 VAT, does anyone know if we have a right to do this?

It sounds like the remaining balance is in fact their whole fee? You're not realistically going to get the work done completely for free even if the service is a bit shoddy. If their terms of business require the whole fee paid before completion (which they almost certainly will) then no, you're not going to have the right to withhold their fee, but you might ultimately get a partial refund.

Chemical_Grrl

Hi David, as I said I was trying to summarise what's happened because it's very long winded but in relation to your first point the solicitor quoted the cml handbook criteria to us which our lease length met and then incorrectly told us our lender wouldn't lend based on that criteria, it then took a month for the lender to respond to our solicitors query, they were already aware of the lease length which met their criteria and they ultimately responded to say they were happy to proceed, secondly their entire fee is about £1350, we paid a deposit of £350 so I'm proposing to pay the remainder of some of the fee and withhold some until they answer my complaint in full, I'm not saying I want it for free I just don't want to pay to full fee based on my poor experience, it's far easier to withhold money rather than fight to get a refund from them.

davidmcn

Chemical_Grrl wrote: »

the solicitor quoted the cml handbook criteria to us which our lease length met and then incorrectly told us our lender wouldn't lend based on that criteria, it then took a month for the lender to respond to our solicitors query, they were already aware of the lease length which met their criteria and they ultimately responded to say they were happy to proceed

But had they already told the solicitor that? Unfortunately lenders will often agree things in applications which deviate from their norm but then not bother explaining that in their solicitors' instructions, which means the solicitor does have to go back and query it. Why did the lender take a month to answer the question if they already knew the answer? This does sound more like the lender's fault.

In relation to fees, you don't have a right to withhold the fee until the complaint has been determined. You can of course ask. The alternative would have been to delay completion, but obviously you can't do that now you've exchanged.

Tiglet2

I think you run the risk of not completing on completion day if the solicitor does not hold enough money on account to make the transfer, pay the SDLT and take their fee. Then you will be in breach of the contract and may lose your 10% deposit.

Generally, you instruct a solicitor to act for you in the acquisition or disposal (or both) of property. They have exchanged and a completion date set, therefore the acquisition of the property, that you instructed them to do, they have done. How long it takes to get there is not really part of the agreed terms and conditions, since all properties are different and some have issues, where others do not.

The solicitor acts for the lender as well as you so they do have to report matters to the lender and it does sound as though it took a while for the lender to respond. How long is left on the lease term, incidentally? If there were any delays you may be able to claim some compensation, however personally I wouldn't risk waiting six weeks for what might be a small offer of e.g. £50-£100 at the risk of not completing on completion day and having my deposit at risk.

G_M

Chemical_Grrl wrote: »

........ We exchanged contracts yesterday and as part of the completion process the solicitor wants us to pay the remaining balance of their fee, ........ I am going to propose that we withhold the conveyancing fee until our complaint has been answered in full and just pay them f.......??

You can cetainly propose this, but I suspect they will refuse to Complete unless their fee, and all disbursements, SDLT etc, are paid in full.


That willput you in a very difficult position in relation both to your purchase, and your contract.


You've raised a complaint (on which I won't comment) and it will be dealt with in due course in line with their complaints procedure. Your purchase and it's progression needs to proceed according to a separate timeline.

kingstreet

Tiglet2 wrote: »

I think you run the risk of not completing on completion day if the solicitor does not hold enough money on account to make the transfer, pay the SDLT and take their fee. Then you will be in breach of the contract and may lose your 10% deposit.

I agree. This is a CML/UKF Handbook requirement.

Pay the fee and sort it out afterwards during the complaint process.

gingerdad

can't add anything useful but feel your pain, trying to also complain about an awful, unprofessional service from our Solicitor. they really don't seem to understand the service they offer and how to communicate or deliver it.