Sellers solicitor spreading lies?

housebuyer143

What do I do here - I am copied into most emails by my solicitor so I get a good picture of what's happening, but the seller tells me his solicitor is saying things like she is waiting on us and we are holding exchange up, when it is in fact the sellers solicitor who fails to respond and picks and chooses which emails she replies too and in fact all the enquiries have not been answered. 

I am worried we might end up losing the house because of the mistruths they are being passed. My solicitor is lost for words as all she does is chase this and gets nothing back. 

I told the seller what he is being told is not the truth but then he checks with the solicitor who tells them that we are holding it up and they understandably believe them. 

Archie_Duke

‘Spreading lies’ just sounds gossipy! 

Actually they’re making excuses to their client for some reason best known to them. I had a solicitor who was supposed to be urgently pursuing the searches for a mortgage who had actually gone on a skiing holiday at this time of year. They’d left instructions with the office with what to say to clients, all pre planned. This was before email, so your situation is nothing new.

housebuyer143

Archie_Duke said:

‘Spreading lies’ just sounds gossipy! 

Actually they’re making excuses to their client for some reason best known to them. I had a solicitor who was supposed to be urgently pursuing the searches for a mortgage who had actually gone on a skiing holiday at this time of year. They’d left instructions with the office with what to say to clients, all pre planned. This was before email, so your situation is nothing new.

Thats really bad. I just cant understand (well maybe I can) how someone can just outright lie though to their client. Why not just tell the truth and say we are working on one last enquiry, why all the cloak and dagger. I am just at a loss what to do here. 

user1977

housebuyer143 said:

Archie_Duke said:

‘Spreading lies’ just sounds gossipy! 

Actually they’re making excuses to their client for some reason best known to them. I had a solicitor who was supposed to be urgently pursuing the searches for a mortgage who had actually gone on a skiing holiday at this time of year. They’d left instructions with the office with what to say to clients, all pre planned. This was before email, so your situation is nothing new.

I am just at a loss what to do here. 

Leave it to your solicitor to deal with. All part of the daily grind for them.

Tiglet2

Not anything you can do, unfortunately.

The seller's solicitor may believe they have answered all enquiries, but the purchaser's solicitor doesn't agree that the answers are satisfactory, so they ask for further clarification and evidence.  It is sometimes a difference of opinion as to what is acceptable as a response and what is not acceptable.  

In a sale and purchase, the process is very much driven by the buyer's solicitor as there can be no exchange until the buyer's solicitor has accepted the answers to enquiries and decided they are ready to proceed.  A seller's solicitor may get frustrated with a repetition of enquiries and further clarification required, but they cannot decide when they're ready to proceed to exchange, only the buyer's solicitor can.

Solicitors don't "lie".   There is no reason why either of them would jeopardise the transaction, not least because they don't get paid until the transaction completes.

housebuyer143

Tiglet2 said:

Not anything you can do, unfortunately.

The seller's solicitor may believe they have answered all enquiries, but the purchaser's solicitor doesn't agree that the answers are satisfactory, so they ask for further clarification and evidence.  It is sometimes a difference of opinion as to what is acceptable as a response and what is not acceptable.  

In a sale and purchase, the process is very much driven by the buyer's solicitor as there can be no exchange until the buyer's solicitor has accepted the answers to enquiries and decided they are ready to proceed.  A seller's solicitor may get frustrated with a repetition of enquiries and further clarification required, but they cannot decide when they're ready to proceed to exchange, only the buyer's solicitor can.

Solicitors don't "lie".   There is no reason why either of them would jeopardise the transaction, not least because they don't get paid until the transaction completes.

Thanks - that is where we are now. I have said to the seller that it really is outside my hands as my solicitor will not exchange until the query is resolved. I want nothing more than to move into the house, it just feels so difficult to do when we are up against delays because of his solicitor. 

Its hard to believe she isnt lying though as how she can think what she is saying is the truth just seems impossible. Guess she could just be bad at her job. 

Thrugelmir

The question you need to ask yourself is what you are achieving by constantly harrassing everyone involved in the chain? Creating conspiracy theories helps no one. In what is a stressfull period of time.  In a few weeks time everything will done and you'll be happily living in your new home. All will soon be forgotten. 

housebuyer143

Thrugelmir said:

The question you need to ask yourself is what you are achieving by constantly harrassing everyone involved in the chain?  In a few weeks time everything will done and you'll be happily living in your new home. 

I am not harassing anyone - I am being contacted to say "why are we not doing this and that" and so I am merely trying to find out what to do to move things onwards.

Not going to be in our new home if the seller pulls our because they think we are delaying for no reason.

TripleH

We had a purchase where the sellers' solicitors would answer questions / promise that issues would be resolved by x date etc but they weren't.

I believe it was stalling tactics by the solicitors but on the instruction of their client (its easy to blame the solicitors as a cop out).

In our case the seller (new conversion leasehold) were pushing us to accept their 'unfavourable' lease because all other buyers using the 'recomnended' solicitor had. Our solicitors were advising our lender that without an amendment they shouldn't proceed.

housebuyer143

TripleH said:

We had a purchase where the sellers' solicitors would answer questions / promise that issues would be resolved by x date etc but they weren't.

I believe it was stalling tactics by the solicitors but on the instruction of their client (its easy to blame the solicitors as a cop out).

In our case the seller (new conversion leasehold) were pushing us to accept their 'unfavourable' lease because all other buyers using the 'recomnended' solicitor had. Our solicitors were advising our lender that without an amendment they shouldn't proceed.

Thank you - I feel that could be part of it, trying to put the pressure on to accept something which is less than ideal, which is what the final enquiry is about. I can not imagine she is stupid being a solicitor, thats what makes it all the more annoying. If they communicated this would be sorted. 

Kyresa

No one "lies".   Does your purchaser have a lender?   If they do then the solicitors have to make sure every t is crossed and every i dotted for THEIR requirements too!   You may all think it's just an easy process of "oh we've agreed to buy that house, why aren't we exchanging two weeks later" but so much has to go on behind the scenes that, if you are not in the business, you have no idea about!