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Chasing solicitors

Stixalot
Posts: 53 Forumite

Hi all, is it a good idea to continuously chase my solicitors to keep up to date with everything that is going on with my house purchase? we are about 4 weeks since we instructed our lawyers and have heard very little from them apart from a few searches have been completed, we got our mortgage offer last week and sent it into them to look at so we could get the deed to sign but since then we have heard nothing until today.
It turns out that the deed wasn't included in the offer so we had to check with the broker who stated it was on the LMS(?) and that they would know what this is but still nothing back, and now we find that they haven't even requested the contract pack from the vendors solicitors yet and i am trying to chase this up now as well.
And finally for local area searches, in my area it takes up to 60 days at the moment so i thought i would give the council a ring to see if I could expedite this a bit, but I was told my lawyers who raised the searches are the only ones they will speak to about this. Well after many phone calls of being on hold for 30 mins or more I finally get told they are unable to chases searches right now (its a quick phone call?)
I'm not well versed in conveyancing and i feel I'm being taken for granted here when it comes to timelines due to being a FTB and I need to keep ringing them to keep them to task is this right?
It turns out that the deed wasn't included in the offer so we had to check with the broker who stated it was on the LMS(?) and that they would know what this is but still nothing back, and now we find that they haven't even requested the contract pack from the vendors solicitors yet and i am trying to chase this up now as well.
And finally for local area searches, in my area it takes up to 60 days at the moment so i thought i would give the council a ring to see if I could expedite this a bit, but I was told my lawyers who raised the searches are the only ones they will speak to about this. Well after many phone calls of being on hold for 30 mins or more I finally get told they are unable to chases searches right now (its a quick phone call?)
I'm not well versed in conveyancing and i feel I'm being taken for granted here when it comes to timelines due to being a FTB and I need to keep ringing them to keep them to task is this right?
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We got our mortgage offer last week and sent it into them to look at.
Your Solicitor would have also received their copy, more than likely before you received yours.
so we could get the deed to sign.Why? What's the urgency? Signing the deed now wouldn't speed anything up and doesn't tie both sides down.
the broker who stated it was on the LMS(?) and that they would know what this is but still nothing backLMS is an online portal Solicitors use to request, receive and submit documents. So as above they will be aware the mortgage offer is there, and again there is no reason to sign the mortgage deed right now.
we find that they haven't even requested the contract pack from the vendors solicitors yet and i am trying to chase this up now as well.And the vendors Solicitor hasn't already sent it why?
I'm not well versed in conveyancingAnd therein lies the problem. How you can "keep them to task" when you have no experience or knowledge off how things actually work?
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What is it you want from your solicitors?
An update every time they do something, or an update when a stage is finalised?
If its the first then this should have been discussed at the start when getting various solicitors costs and timescales and picking which suits you best. I'm doubtful any solicitors would have agreed.
Your 'It's a phonecall' comment shows how little you value your solicitor's time. Finding your file, reading where they are up to, getting the number, calling, being on hold, getting info, recording it on the file, getting your info, calling you, updating you, recording it on the file. For every single thing they do - for you and every client like you?
Or, know when something is likely to be complete, doing the above ONCE and then closing that part off.
Forty and fabulous, well that's what my cards say....0 -
It's common with so much at stake to chase and chase again. In my experience, it will make not a jot of difference as things will progress as and how they progress regardless of how many phone calls you make in a day. From my experience of buying, there are long periods of time where you are just in limbo waiting for paperwork to get shuttled back and forwards between the two conveyancers. I am a naturally very impatient person, but even I managed to just sit back and largely just let things run their course. You chasing land searches and getting involved is just going to cause more problems that it's worth - not sure what you do for a living, but if someone else came along and started trying to do your job for you it would likely cause a right commotion - I know it would in my field of work. Impossible as it is, when buying a property the best thing you can do is just forget about it. I did actually manage to do this about 6 months (out of 8) into our purchase as it just seemed like it was never going to happen, so all the excitement of the first few months had well and truly gone.2
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Stixalot said:Hi all, is it a good idea to continuously chase my solicitors to keep up to date with everything that is going on with my house purchase? we are about 4 weeks since we instructed our lawyers and have heard very little from them apart from a few searches have been completed, we got our mortgage offer last week and sent it into them to look at so we could get the deed to sign but since then we have heard nothing until today.
It turns out that the deed wasn't included in the offer so we had to check with the broker who stated it was on the LMS(?) and that they would know what this is but still nothing back, and now we find that they haven't even requested the contract pack from the vendors solicitors yet and i am trying to chase this up now as well.
And finally for local area searches, in my area it takes up to 60 days at the moment so i thought i would give the council a ring to see if I could expedite this a bit, but I was told my lawyers who raised the searches are the only ones they will speak to about this. Well after many phone calls of being on hold for 30 mins or more I finally get told they are unable to chases searches right now (its a quick phone call?)
I'm not well versed in conveyancing but my wife feels I'm being taken for granted here when it comes to timelines due to being a FTB and I need to keep ringing them to keep them to task is this right?
No, not a good idea. Please do not keep ringing them to keep them to task. 4 weeks is nothing in conveyancing, particular for the purchaser (and purchaser's solicitor), who have to wait for the seller's solicitor to send them a draft contract pack. Before the buyer's solicitor receives this, there is little work they can do.
They will open a file for you, send you their letter of engagement and terms and conditions for your signature and return. You will need to supply your ID, proof of funds, and monies on account for disbursements (i.e. searches).
The seller's solicitor however has to send the same to the seller, plus also the protocol forms (Fixtures & Contents, Property Information Form, Leasehold Information Form), which the seller has to complete and return as these form part of the draft contract pack. They also have to obtain title documents and deeds, either from Land Registry or from their client if the property is unregistered.
It will often take 4 weeks just to get the above steps done. This is before any legal work has actually started, so there is nothing to update you with, so I'm not surprised you haven't heard from them.
As said above, your solicitor will receive their own copy of your mortgage offer. The mortgage deed will be within their pack, but you won't get that to sign until much later on in the transaction.
To be honest, if they have sent off for searches, I would have thought they did have the draft contract pack, since the title would be sent at this time. Solicitors do use search agents, no they cannot be expedited. The search agent advises when the search is due back and that's usually when it arrives.
If you are not well versed in conveyancing, then let the EA do the chasing and stop being a client harrassing their solicitor and trying to micro-manage their workload.
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I made an offer in July which is near completion now. The first few months take a while to complete searches and fill in paperwork so there isn’t huge amounts to chase (my experience).
My solicitor was pretty good at contacting me with updates but I mainly relied on the estate agent for day to day updates.Since nearing completion I have had to chase a few times, but unless you’re waiting on something in particular, I think it’s a case of waiting sadly.0 -
Stixalot said:
And finally for local area searches, in my area it takes up to 60 days at the moment so i thought i would give the council a ring to see if I could expedite this a bit, but I was told my lawyers who raised the searches are the only ones they will speak to about this. Well after many phone calls of being on hold for 30 mins or more I finally get told they are unable to chases searches right now (its a quick phone call?)0 -
Stixalot said:Hi all, is it a good idea to continuously chase my solicitors to keep up to date with everything that is going on with my house purchase? - generally, no unless there's a major issue out of the ordinary.. else they'll spend all their time responding to chasers and not actually on the legal work.
we are about 4 weeks since we instructed our lawyers and have heard very little from them apart from a few searches have been completed, - sounds pretty good for establishing the required searches, sending, waiting for return, logging to your file and updating you in 4 weeks.
we got our mortgage offer last week and sent it into them to look at so we could get the deed to sign but since then we have heard nothing until today.
It turns out that the deed wasn't included in the offer so we had to check with the broker who stated it was on the LMS(?) and that they would know what this is but still nothing back, - there's little that relies on signing the deed, so no need to prioritise that now.
and now we find that they haven't even requested the contract pack from the vendors solicitors yet and i am trying to chase this up now as well. - again, there's little that relies on the draft contract, as these are fairly standard. Many solicitors won't lift a finger until they have this, so yours is likely moving faster.
And finally for local area searches, in my area it takes up to 60 days at the moment so i thought i would give the council a ring to see if I could expedite this a bit, but I was told my lawyers who raised the searches are the only ones they will speak to about this. Well after many phone calls of being on hold for 30 mins or more I finally get told they are unable to chases searches right now (its a quick phone call?) - times each search for your file, times each client.. Its a pointless phonecall too, as why would the council expedite and complete yours? The 60 days is an average for a reason, based on the enquiries at the council and their bandwidth, why would they complete yours in 50 days and let someone else wait 70 days? The solicitors could either slow down their actual work, making x number of extra phonecalls per client, chasing something which they likely will not have until the avg time has passed, or they could just wait.
I'm not well versed in conveyancing and i feel I'm being taken for granted here when it comes to timelines due to being a FTB and I need to keep ringing them to keep them to task is this right?0 -
IT IS NOW 2023!
Things are worse our society has become ruder and more aggressive and demanding. Let the lawyer do the job. They funnily enough trained for years to be qualified in all of the legal expertise. Nothing worse than the conveyancer getting emails and calls from Estate agents and then clients as well. Conveyancing is a low paid thankless task and the chasers and progressors willl make them all hang up their hats. Everyone will then be left with online bucketshop conveyancing which is cheap and dreadful. Or if you do not respect your lawyer enough to leave them to do the job thoroughly and properly then try doing it yourself. A bit like not using a surgeon to remove your appendix and giving it a go in your front room with a knife and spoon and no anaesthetic!0
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