NO CHAIN TURNING INTO A LONG WINDED NIGHTMARE - PULLING MY HAIR OUT!

LaurenJamie1991

Hi There,

I thought I would post my situation and see if anyone on here with experience personally or professionally could shed some light as I am at my wits end and I don't actually know if what I am being told is correct. 
So situation is, I am a first time buyer found my dream home back at the beginning of July and the seller is an elderly lady who is moving due to poor health and needs a property which doesn't have stairs. Took me a month or so from having the offer accepted July 7th to get the mortgage offer as i decided to switch brokers as the best offer i was given from broker 1 was what i felt was a too high interest % so switched and then new broker said he thought nationwide would be coming back in with their 90% LTV and it would be in two weeks so waited and they came back in I applied the day it released, got the offer two weeks after applying.  So beginning of august I paid for my solicitor to carry out the relevant searches etc and about a month ago I was informed that the property I am buying has 5 charges on the house. Seller explained she got into difficulty once partner died and thought she had paid all off but there were some to be paid (the 5 I mentioned) and this is where the troubles begin. She has paid 2 off and the other 3 are being paid with the proceeds of her house sale. My solicitor won't allow the exchange to take place until the 2 charges that have been recently paid are removed off the land registry. The documents showing proof they have been paid have been filed with land registry on 2nd oct and we are still waiting. Documents have not been looked at and i have called up land registry and was told it could be 5-6 weeks before there even looked at as so busy. They said someone could provide a memorandum of sale to expedite the application (speed it up) and it could be me the buyer, the seller or either sides solicitors and we could do this as we have proof this issue is holding up the exchange as my solicitor will not exchange without the 2 that have been paid are removed. When i speak to my solicitor and i speak to my seller all parties are advising we cannot expedite it for some reason and my solicitor says only sellers solicitor could do it but they said they cannot. My seller is buying her new place with cash from house sale and the person she is buying from is saying he is thinking of pulling out because he has had to move into a home and this is taking so long and he is still having to pay ground rent for his place plus the care home bill, if he pulls out my seller could pull out of my deal as she will have nowhere to go.

What I would like to know is:
1) Is my solicitor telling the truth when they said they cannot expedite it and only sellers solicitor can expedite and if so why are they not doing so?
2) Is it true we cannot exchange before the paid charges are removed from the property? I don't understand it as even if they are removed we still have two on the property until after the house sale anyway as the other two will not be paid until after completion. My solicitor keeps saying if the paid for ones are not removed before exchange it puts me at risk etc.
3) Will land registry seriously take 6 weeks to remove off their database, its been 12 days and they still have not even looked at the documents.
4) What else can i do to get things moving quicker?
5) My mortgage offer was issued beginning of august due to covid and it now being October before they do the transfer of mortgage funds will they ask for any more bank statements or proof of earnings like they did at beginning of application process because its been two months since the offer and with covid people losing jobs etc?

Thank you for reading i really appreciate it.

Lauren

gwynlas

Slow down and breathe. Your solicitor is providing excellent advice as to wanting first two charges removed on land registry and it is up to the sellers solicitor to chase this. Land registry always have a backlog even without covid.
Whilst it might be very frustrating just accept that what will be will be and realise it could be far worse with other properties in longer chains.

LaurenJamie1991

I hear what your saying but my solicitor and sellers solicitors are both pants. I have spent months doing all the work myself, chasing everyone and finding out information they didn't bother to chase and find themselves. And having to communicate with the seller myself to get various documents sent to my solicitor as sellers solicitor is so slow. Her side also said she had uploaded docs to land registry 8 days before they actually did as land registry confirmed the date they received it. I don't understand about waiting for charges to be removed from land registry and then doing the exchange because regardless there are going to be 3 left on there until the deal is done anyway so why can't we do the deal and all 5 get dealt with after instead of 3.

LaurenJamie1991

SpiderLegs said:

Probably best to stop interfering with all the parties. Just discuss with your solicitor.

If i hadn't "interfered" we would not be as far along as we even are now thank you very much. There have been numerous !!!!!! ups from both solicitors sides which have caused these delays because they have not been communicating efficiently. Hence i am not happy.

MovingForwards

@Land_Registry can you say what process is available for OP?

LaurenJamie1991

Land registry are saying its been with them since 2nd oct and not been looked at yet, and advised due to service times it could be 5-6 weeks before its looked at which seems crazy. They have offered me chance to expedite the application which would then take say 10 days but i mentioned this to my solicitor and they keep passing the buck saying only the sellers solicitor can apply to do this but then the sellers solicitor is saying they can't expedite it even though land registry told me they can so i do not understand what is going on. Land registry told me they need mem of sale to expedite application as its holding up the exchange.

SpiderLegs

LaurenJamie1991 said:

SpiderLegs said:

Probably best to stop interfering with all the parties. Just discuss with your solicitor.

If i hadn't "interfered" we would not be as far along as we even are now thank you very much. There have been numerous !!!!!! ups from both solicitors sides which have caused these delays because they have not been communicating efficiently. Hence i am not happy.

Sounds like you need to sack your solicitor and do it all yourself then.

Penguin_

LaurenJamie1991 said:

Land registry are saying its been with them since 2nd oct and not been looked at yet, and advised due to service times it could be 5-6 weeks before its looked at which seems crazy. They have offered me chance to expedite the application which would then take say 10 days but i mentioned this to my solicitor and they keep passing the buck saying only the sellers solicitor can apply to do this but then the sellers solicitor is saying they can't expedite it even though land registry told me they can so i do not understand what is going on. Land registry told me they need mem of sale to expedite application as its holding up the exchange.

Really? Wonder what the hold up is....

LaurenJamie1991

Spider you must be a solicitor as your backing them up a heck of a lot. I  have explained my situation and given of examples of the mess ups of both solicitors at both my side and sellers side so don't know why you keep jumping to their defence and acting like i am being unreasonable here. As i mentioned i have done lots to get this moving and if i had not we would not even be as far along as we are now. There is a whole list of mess ups that has happened i didn't detail every single one but i gave enough info to demonstrate bad service i have received.

And the to other person that replied land registry said there super busy atm thats why that time scale its crazy

Thrugelmir

LaurenJamie1991 said:

Spider you must be a solicitor as your backing them up a heck of a lot.

If you wish to rant and simply receive affirmation for your actions and views. Then MSE isn't going to be any help to you in this instance.  

Stress is part and parcel of buying/selling houses. We are vow never to do it again, but we do time after time. I always recommend yoga, long walks and a decent bottle of wine to relieve the stress. . 

LaurenJamie1991

its not about ranting, not one person has offered an opinion on the questions i asked all they have done is reply to me and act like i am out of order for being annoyed. I asked some questions none have been answered or given a opinion on.