Can a buyer insist that we use a solicitor?

fwor

We are selling a freehold property that we own, mortgage-free, vacant possession. We had planned to DIY the conveyancing, but we have just been told (by the Estate Agent) that because the buyer is getting a mortgage for the purchase, we cannot DIY and must appoint a solicitor. Is this correct? I went DIY when I sold my last property without an issue, but that was 14 years ago and I accept that things (e.g. AML) have changed a bit since then!

user1977

Not quite true, though it may increase the risk enough for the lender to be concerned. But I would wait to see what their solicitor says rather than trust the EA to know what they're talking about.

MaryNB

I'm not sure if under the regulations a solicitor is responsible for ensuring all money involved is legit - in most cases receiving it via another solicitor's account covers their basis with regards to others involved in the transaction. Or if they are just responsible for their own clients. They may have their own internal policy that due to regs they won't accept any money that has not been through AML checks.

Could you look into paying a solicitor just to do the AML checks? 

fwor

user1977 said:

Not quite true, though it may increase the risk enough for the lender to be concerned. But I would wait to see what their solicitor says rather than trust the EA to know what they're talking about.

Thanks - that's what I was thinking - that the EA is just stating a "general rule" rather than because they know anything specific about the lender.

I've heard of (and experienced) bad behaviour by solicitors who don't want to deal with people who don't have their own solicitor - but in this case it's a dead simple sale which doesn't (IMO) justify spending up to £1k on a solicitor who won't be doing very much.

fwor

MaryNB said:

Could you look into paying a solicitor just to do the AML checks? 

That's a good point - I'll ask around. I'm not really sure that the AML checks even apply here, do they? We (as individuals) aren't obliged to do AML checks, and presumably their mortgage provider will be doing AML checks on them, but that's nothing to do with us, other than indirectly (i.e. if they fail then the purchase can't proceed, I guess)?

lr1277

This is purely a guess, but wouldn't the seller's solicitor also do checks that the seller had the right to sell the property. If I was buying, and I was buying from somebody who was doing a DIY conveyancing, I would want to know there would be no comeback from a 3rd party saying they owned the property after I moved in.This applies to a nervous buyer and/or a first time buyer

I am sure a few years ago, highlighted on Radio 4, fraudsters were changing the owners' details at the land registry for properties that had not mortgage charges on them. They would then sell the property, obviously without the owners' knowledge. The first thing the owner knew about it was I think when the buyer turned up to move in. LR had to pay out compo in those cases. I don't know if they fixed the flaws in the system that allowed fraudsters to change details at the LR for a given property.

Like I said, this is guesswork based on a hazy memory.

fwor

If I were buying, I would want my solicitor to be checking that the seller owned the property, not the seller's!

user1977

fwor said:

If I were buying, I would want my solicitor to be checking that the seller owned the property, not the seller's!

How would they do that? Your solicitor can't drag the seller personally into their office with their ID. They would normally rely on the seller's solicitor confirming that they've checked who their client is.

fwor

The EA has already done ID checks on us as sellers, which involved the typical passport and utility bill checks.

user1977

fwor said:

The EA has already done ID checks on us as sellers, which involved the typical passport and utility bill checks.

Great, but that's got nothing to do with the solicitors.

lr1277

As a buyer you would trust the word of an EA? Cool. I have a bridge for sale. Are you interested?