Seller not completing

Irishpearce26

OP I don't want to sound condescending but did your solicitor call you and ask for authorisation to exchange contracts? Or did you send in the signed contract and paid your deposit?

PilgrimDesign

AdrianC said:

Paid it to your solicitor, sure... But has he actually exchanged contracts with theirs?

My solicitor said something about not being wise to issue the notice to complete as their mortgage is still outstanding and then I could be left with their mortgage. This doesnt sound right to me, but I know the law is not always logical.

Unless and until their lender remove their charge from the title, which means paying off the mortgage, the title cannot be changed to your name.

Yes, the contracts were exchanged and deposit paid on the 5th of May.

Thank you and @verytired11 for explaining the mortgage thing better, that makes more sense now.
I'll keep trying to call my solicitor and hopefully I'll get some good news today.

PilgrimDesign

Mickygg said:

I bet contracts haven't yet exchanged, otherwise it would be a whole different ball game. 

My solicitor told me that he had exchanged on the 5th of May and told me to take out buildings insurance for the house as it will be my responsibility from that day.

wilfred30

I find it hard to believe that a solicitor would exchange contracts when such important issues had not been resolved.

If that is the case, I think the OP has a good case against their solicitor for negligence.

2bFrank

You have a god awful solicitor, and they cannot be bothered with the extra work, you are making it very easy for them. Why are you not at the solicitors office kicking up a fuss to get them to actually sort it out. Even if they are remote, find out who the biggest person is in the firm and speak to them, the one you are speaking too is a moron.

You cannot be liable for another persons mortgage, the solicitors needs to issue a notice to complete and you need to insist on it, I don't know, but my sneaky suspicion is something else is at play here, I think your solicitor may have messed up somewhere and trying to hide it, based of the rubbish they are telling you.

Start recording all your out of pocket expenses as well, including time of work, the seller is now liable for this.

user1977

wilfred30 said:

I find it hard to believe that a solicitor would exchange contracts when such important issues had not been resolved.

If that is the case, I think the OP has a good case against their solicitor for negligence.

What makes you think that? Leaving aside whatever the OP means by a "receipt form", the only thing outstanding is getting a redemption statement - it's not up to the purchaser or their solicitor to check whether the vendor has got one, and often it can't be provided far enough in advance anyway. I wonder if the issue is more that the vendor doesn't have enough cash to redeem. 

AlexMac

Now, or maybe after the dust settles, ask your solicitor for their complaints procedure, then if they continue to let you down and cost you money, and fail to give you redress, escalate it (google how).  But good luck and sympathies for having even more stress in what's already a stressful process.

xylophone

the only thing outstanding is getting a redemption statement 

The OP says

I believe they now have the redemption statement 

but his belief may not be correct.

Regardless of that, the  OP has stated quite categorically his solicitor advised him that contracts were exchanged on 5 May,  and his deposit was paid over .

He also stated that his solicitor

 told me to take out buildings insurance for the house as it will be my responsibility from that day.

Presumably he has done this.

The situation then is that contracts were exchanged, deposit paid and completion should have taken place on 3 June.

The responsibility for the failure to complete lies with the vendor of the property (apparently rather less common than failure to complete lying with the buyer).

Below may be worth a read.

https://www.taylorwessing.com/en/insights-and-events/insights/2019/09/a-sellers-prerogative-when-a-seller-refuses-to-complete-a-sale

PilgrimDesign

Thank you @xylophone that link is very useful.
You have summed it up nicely and yes I did buy the insurance. I was told the redemption statement came through late on friday. So as @user1977 says maybe they dont have enough cash to redeem.

I have spoke to the neighbours and it turns out the house is part of a very long running divorce battle which could explain a lot. 

I havent been able to speak to my solicitor yet today but I have messaged him and asked him if there is now any reason that he cannot issue a notice to complete. so we will see.
Thanks for the help so far

saajan_12

PilgrimDesign said:

fiveacre said:

Why on earth would they advise against issuing a notice to complete? What exactly did your solicitor say about it? Can you escalate it to someone more senior at the firm if they really said "you could be left with their mortgage".

He has been dealing with me by phone so I dont have it written down, but he said "we could force through the sale but then you could be left with their mortgage and you dont want that do you" 

Bizarre, Completion = redeeming charges and transferring to your name. You're serving notice to complete, not just half complete.