Just out of interest..............how.....?

Cuddlybearman

does it work legally when you exchange in a chain? Do all the solicitors involved get on a conference call or something at the same time? Or does it go one by one from top to bottom?
Just wondering as at the moment (and its not just me) - solicitors just seem to go AWOL for days at a time. I find it hard to believe that 4 or 5 solicitors would be capable of all doing the same thing at the same time.....

greatcrested

Cuddlybearman said:

solicitors just seem to go AWOL for days at a time. I find it hard to believe that 4 or 5 solicitors would be capable of all doing the same thing at the same time.....

Yeah - just never happens.

Hence no one ever Exchanges.....

pbartlett

you can google it but:

1. On the day of exchange, the solicitor or conveyancer at the bottom of the chain has to contact the next one up and confirm to them that they’re in receipt of a signed contract of sale and deposit funds and also confirm the terms of the sale and completion date.
2. They will give the next legal representative up the chain a ‘release’ time to come back to them to confirm the exchange, for example this may be 4pm or 5pm that same day.
3. The next solicitor or conveyancer has to contact their client’s seller’s legal company in the same way, until the solicitor at the top of the chain has been reached.
4. The exchange then needs to be confirmed back ‘down’ the chain, to reach the first legal company within the release timeframe. If that doesn’t happen, the exchange process will have to be re-started the next day.

wilfred30

It doesn't have to be the solicitor themselves who does the exchange telephone call.  It can and, very often is, their secretary.  I've even known a receptionist do it