Completion with no keys!

MartiMcfly

PollyWollyDoodle said:

You need to distinguish between negligence, poor service and breach of conduct regulations. 

Nothing you have said above would suggest a breach of regulation, so it’s unlikely that the Solicitors Regulation Authority will take it up. A complaint about the service you received would be dealt with by the Legal Services Ombudsman.  If you are alleging that your solicitors were negligent and that you have lost money as a result, then you may need to take out a civil case against them. 

I think you're probably correct, the SRA will ping me to LSO , no doubt.

 I've written off the 2 grand I lost, don't expect it back anytime soon, for me its just a principle thing, leading up to completion I had emails from my solicitor AND THE  SELLERS SOLICITOR even, assuring me completion will be done on the day stipulated, as I was paranoid I would end up homeless if it didn't happen....guess what happened...

MartiMcfly

GDB2222 said:

The purchase contract probably stipulated that the money needed to reach the seller by 2pm. It didn’t, and you were in breach of contract.  There’s a procedure for dealing with this, which fortunately was not followed, as it would have cost you even more. 

You can’t transfer the money late and then complain that the sellers didn’t release the keys immediately. In other words, the sellers and their solicitor are bulletproof.

Your complaint is about whichever of your solicitors was responsible for the late transfer, if either. CHAPS transfers are not instant, in any case. So, solicitor 1 gives instructions to the bank, but solicitor 2 may not get the money until hours later.

That's the key question isn't it? My complaint is two fold, why did my buying solicitor sit on the cash from the sale of my flat received at 10.30 and not transfer it to my seller solcitior until 3pm?  Secondly once completion was confirmed by my buying solicitor, why did the seller ( we had swapped numbers and been in constant contact throughout the process because both our solicitors are rubbish) have no-one tell her completion had taken place? Not even an email?

My sellers solicitor was on holiday ( this was early August) and so her case file was being 'covered' by her colleagues. She said it was impossible to get through to her solicitor and they didn't respond to her emails, her last contact was a couple of days before confirming completion date.

MartiMcfly

Thrugelmir said:

MartiMcfly said:

Thrugelmir said:

The funds transfer is normal. Fault lies elsewhere.  When was the EA informed that completion had taken place? 

EA was informed by the seller who rang me in the morning very sheepishly. She arranged for a relative to hand the keys to the EA (who didn't have the keys) and the EA met me and gave the keys. EA is one of those shoddy internet EA's...

If the EA wasn't given the keys by the vendor then there's no justification to paint them as being shoddy.  I'm surprised that the vendor didn't receive an email until 8.30pm. Something is amiss. 

That's very true, its not fair to label them shoddy, there wasn't much the EA could do, online or not.

GDB2222

MartiMcfly said:

GDB2222 said:

The purchase contract probably stipulated that the money needed to reach the seller by 2pm. It didn’t, and you were in breach of contract.  There’s a procedure for dealing with this, which fortunately was not followed, as it would have cost you even more. 

You can’t transfer the money late and then complain that the sellers didn’t release the keys immediately. In other words, the sellers and their solicitor are bulletproof.

Your complaint is about whichever of your solicitors was responsible for the late transfer, if either. CHAPS transfers are not instant, in any case. So, solicitor 1 gives instructions to the bank, but solicitor 2 may not get the money until hours later.

That's the key question isn't it? My complaint is two fold, why did my buying solicitor sit on the cash from the sale of my flat received at 10.30 and not transfer it to my seller solcitior until 3pm?  Secondly once completion was confirmed by my buying solicitor, why did the seller ( we had swapped numbers and been in constant contact throughout the process because both our solicitors are rubbish) have no-one tell her completion had taken place? Not even an email?

My sellers solicitor was on holiday ( this was early August) and so her case file was being 'covered' by her colleagues. She said it was impossible to get through to her solicitor and they didn't respond to her emails, her last contact was a couple of days before confirming completion date.

I’m surprised that you know exactly what time funds were received. Was this in response to your complaints?

Thrugelmir

MartiMcfly said:

GDB2222 said:

The purchase contract probably stipulated that the money needed to reach the seller by 2pm. It didn’t, and you were in breach of contract.  There’s a procedure for dealing with this, which fortunately was not followed, as it would have cost you even more. 

You can’t transfer the money late and then complain that the sellers didn’t release the keys immediately. In other words, the sellers and their solicitor are bulletproof.

Your complaint is about whichever of your solicitors was responsible for the late transfer, if either. CHAPS transfers are not instant, in any case. So, solicitor 1 gives instructions to the bank, but solicitor 2 may not get the money until hours later.

 why did my buying solicitor sit on the cash from the sale of my flat received at 10.30 and not transfer it to my seller solcitior until 3pm?  

CHAPS is performed by the bank not by the solicitor. As per my post above. 

MartiMcfly

GDB2222 said:

MartiMcfly said:

GDB2222 said:

The purchase contract probably stipulated that the money needed to reach the seller by 2pm. It didn’t, and you were in breach of contract.  There’s a procedure for dealing with this, which fortunately was not followed, as it would have cost you even more. 

You can’t transfer the money late and then complain that the sellers didn’t release the keys immediately. In other words, the sellers and their solicitor are bulletproof.

Your complaint is about whichever of your solicitors was responsible for the late transfer, if either. CHAPS transfers are not instant, in any case. So, solicitor 1 gives instructions to the bank, but solicitor 2 may not get the money until hours later.

That's the key question isn't it? My complaint is two fold, why did my buying solicitor sit on the cash from the sale of my flat received at 10.30 and not transfer it to my seller solcitior until 3pm?  Secondly once completion was confirmed by my buying solicitor, why did the seller ( we had swapped numbers and been in constant contact throughout the process because both our solicitors are rubbish) have no-one tell her completion had taken place? Not even an email?

My sellers solicitor was on holiday ( this was early August) and so her case file was being 'covered' by her colleagues. She said it was impossible to get through to her solicitor and they didn't respond to her emails, her last contact was a couple of days before confirming completion date.

I’m surprised that you know exactly what time funds were received. Was this in response to your complaints?

Yes, I've formally complained with both firms and even the EA. At the very least I should have got a heads up from my buying solicitor that as they transferred the funds late, completion may not happen, at 3pm I could have headed to a storage unit and gone to stay with friends or family, as it turned out, I was outside my new home, from 5.30 to 7pm begging the seller to check emails and call her solicitor, while calling the EA and my solicitor begging for help. By that point I was screwed as even the storage centres  were closed for new clients.

MartiMcfly

Thrugelmir said:

MartiMcfly said:

GDB2222 said:

The purchase contract probably stipulated that the money needed to reach the seller by 2pm. It didn’t, and you were in breach of contract.  There’s a procedure for dealing with this, which fortunately was not followed, as it would have cost you even more. 

You can’t transfer the money late and then complain that the sellers didn’t release the keys immediately. In other words, the sellers and their solicitor are bulletproof.

Your complaint is about whichever of your solicitors was responsible for the late transfer, if either. CHAPS transfers are not instant, in any case. So, solicitor 1 gives instructions to the bank, but solicitor 2 may not get the money until hours later.

 why did my buying solicitor sit on the cash from the sale of my flat received at 10.30 and not transfer it to my seller solcitior until 3pm?  

CHAPS is performed by the bank not by the solicitor. As per my post above. 

my solicitor who handled my sale emailed me when my buying solicitor confirmed to them they had received the funds, as all proceeds from my sale were swept to them, before lunch time, yet they sent it on for my purchase after 3pm. So they knew it could take forever to reach my seller solicitors didn't they? But that's not my main anger point, its the fact I exchanged and completed and couldn't get keys ....

TripleH

Sorry but did you use the same solicitors as your seller? (It's how I read one of your posts).

When you complain I would submit 2 letters. Whilst the issues are related this relates to 2 different firms. Make sure you only focus on the issues relating to each firm individually on the complaint.

There will be the counter argument that you yourself created this mess by using separate firms for each side of the transaction. I say this because that will be a counter argument to yours and they will say you didn't mitigate your losses there. You need a sensible argument to that.

where_is_my_mind

Surely if you received a phone call at 5.30 to say you had completed you could have just broken in/ got a locksmith out. The seller can’t complain about you entering your property as after completion it had nothing to do with her. 

Not ideal of course but better to pay an emergency locksmith than the huge costs you seem to have paid?

martindow

where_is_my_mind said:

Surely if you received a phone call at 5.30 to say you had completed you could have just broken in/ got a locksmith out. The seller can’t complain about you entering your property as after completion it had nothing to do with her. 

Not ideal of course but better to pay an emergency locksmith than the huge costs you seem to have paid?

Would a locksmith break in for someone who said they were buying a house and had just had a phone call to say it had gone through?  We could all try that one!