Solicitor keeps missing sellers info

Knward3

Hi

were in the process of buying our first house. Offer accepted, Mortgage offer, solicitors instructed. Valuation and survey done. 

We waited 5 weeks and then rang the solicitor for an update (is this too soon??). Our (🤞🏻)home is under the the stamp duty threshold so this doesn’t have any bearing on this sale. She said she hadn’t heard anything from the vendors solicitor but then rang back to say she had received a pack from them but had missed it weeks ago. 

Is this normal? 

And any idea what kind of pack? 

She then left the phone call abruptly so we are waiting for her to clarify we’re abouts we are etc. But if anyone could guess in the mean time I’d really appreciate it 

thank you 

Tiglet2

I imagine it was the draft contract pack (or perhaps management pack) which the seller's solicitor sends over, so that your solicitor can review the documents and start initial enquiries.

teachfast

Completely normal. A significant proportion of them are hopeless and unprofessional. 

Redwino222

When she said she had missed the pack this was your opportunity to express concern.  Ask her if this will delay the process, and say you now expect the case to be prioritised to catch up on any lost ground due to this mistake on her part.

speak to the estate agent and ask f the sale is progressing at the right pace.  

Five weeks is still quite early in the process, but don’t be afraid to ask questions.  You are paying the solicitor for a service and so many seem to treat paying clients as an irritation.  

Falafels

No, this isn't normal. At least not if you've got a halfway competent solicitor.

Drawingaline

Our solicitor didn't receive the pack. Apparently there email system kept blocking them and they needed a hard copy. Once this was discovered and a hard copy received she was on it pretty quickly and enquiries raised within the week. 

Talking to both our solicitor and EA (who has worked closely with them for many years) this was a bit of a known problem 🙄 

It should have been picked up sooner, however right now they re under a lot of pressure with the SD deadline looming. Hopefully now it's been received your silly will be doing all the necessary stuff.

TBagpuss

Its not usual - most solicitors and conveyancers are pretty good. However, they are human and like most humans, make occasional mistakes. Right now they are all also exceptionally busy and most have been working flat out since before Christmas, and as with anyone else, when people are under high pressure and working at or above their normal capacity they are more likely to make mistakes.

That said, she was honest with you about having missed it and took the trouble to call you back to explain the situation as soon as she knew, and  is now moving forward, which si a good sign - she's taking responsibility forher mistake.

I would expect that she will now be checking what has been sent to be able t o forward it to you and to set out what happens next. 

As you say, your purchase is at an early stage and is not dependent on the Tax holiday - given we are a week from the deadline, right now, most conveyancers are going to be prioritizing the cases which are affected by that deadline, so I would give it until the end of next week then follow up.