What can you do to speed up slow solicitors?

[Deleted User]

Long story short, I had an offer accepted 16th December, solicitors instructed and mortgage applied for the 17th. Since then I have had all my searches returned, my mortgage offer through and a private survery done. The vendor is kindly fixing a damp problem in the bathroom for me before exchange. The house is empty and was previously rented, I'm a FTB, no chains, should be fairly straight forward. My solicitors have had the searches back for nearly 3 weeks and are yet to action any enquiries/prepare title report. I pester them atleast twice a week. I got a call yesterday from the estate agent yesterday mentioning the vendor is fixing the problem I requested, but he has said his solicitor has had no correspondence from mine and he wants this sale boxed off in february due to the fact he is paying a mortgage on it, otherwise will have no option but to put it back up for rent. The estate agent spoke to my solicitor yesterday to put this pressure on him and I have also sent him quite a long emailing explaining I am happy to collect any documents to save postal delays and anything else I can do to make things shift as quick as possible. I have a young child so needing this property before he grows out of his crib and needs his own room. I got quite a short response off the solicitor earlier saying "I'm dealing with your file now". That's it, no acknowledgement to my questions regarding a realistic exchange time frame or anything. What are my next options? I am doing everything I can to speed them up. The annoying thing is I didnt choose the firm my broker did on my behalf. I personally think my vendor is putting the frighteners on quite soon but what can I do?

MaryNB

Your vender has unrealistic expectations. 2 and a half months from offer to completion is shorter than average at the best of times. Between covid and the SDLT holiday everything is taking much longer. It would moronic for him to put it back up for rent because if he gets new tenants he probably won't have it available for sale (except to another landlord at a discounted price) until next year. Unfortunately with the SDLT holiday demand is very high and solicitors are snowed under trying to meet the deadline. 

[Deleted User]

MaryNB said:

Your vender has unrealistic expectations. 2 and a half months from offer to completion is shorter than average at the best of times. Between covid and the SDLT holiday everything is taking much longer. It would moronic for him to put it back up for rent because if he gets new tenants he probably won't have it available for sale (except to another landlord at a discounted price) until next year. Unfortunately with the SDLT holiday demand is very high and solicitors are snowed under trying to meet the deadline. 

Thanks, I did think it was a bit unreasonable, do you think its probably an empty threat? The guy is in property and owns quite a few, I thought hed have understood how it works 

mathdotrandom

He probably does understand how it works but is trying his luck...I had my offer accepted November 15th, so roughly a month ahead of you, and my solicitor received enquiries back today and my vendor is requesting completion by the end of the month.
It sounds like your vendor is unrealistic here, rather than your solicitor being slow...

MaryNB

I'd say he well knows how this works, it's just a pressure tactic. He knows that with the current covid notices and eviction freezes if he ends up with bad tenants he'll be lucky to get them out by the end of next year, never mind the start.  He knows the house will need to be vacant in order to sell at full market value and he won't be getting rent for a few months. He knows if he wants to keep his rental income until he sells he'll have to sell at a reduced price to another landlord. He wants to have his cake and eat it too - minimum void and selling at full market price.

He also knows you're an FTB and since you're new to the property market he probably thinks you'll be a softer touch. 

The best you can do is keep in contact with your solicitor, do your best to move it along and don't get to the point of calling every other hour. They'll have so many other clients driving them to get things done by the end of March, you won't be the only one contacting them on a regular basis. 

teachfast

They'll address the last thing they were sat on for. Call or email every couple of days; it keeps your file at the top. They're all drowning in work but suffering from a drought of competence these days. 

Tiglet2

I am doing everything I can to speed them up
Except leaving them alone so they can actually work on your file instead of them having to spend precious time talking to you about it it seems

[Deleted User]

Tiglet2 said:

I am doing everything I can to speed them up
Except leaving them alone so they can actually work on your file instead of them having to spend precious time talking to you about it it seems

That's what secretary's are for... I dont think speaking to their admin team for an update is an unreasonable thing to do, since we have had radio silence for weeks and I am paying for a service... in regards to my email to the solicitor, I'd like to think anyone would do the same if their vendor was threatening to pull out, they wouldnt be getting their fees off me if their service wasnt required anymore. 

teachfast

Agreed. The concept of good communication with their worthless clients is foreign to many solicitors. They simply take on too much work to make this possible, then blame their clients for wanting information and not blindly trusting them to provide what is necessary. 

The replies in these threads from several of them demonstrate their client distain. And that comes through. 

If you get a good one that acts professionally, in a timely manner, and communicates well with you then hang onto them for dear life as they are as rare as rocking horse dung.