Source of Wealth Query

univas01

My mortgage has offered! Then comes an issue with the conveyancer regarding my deposit.

The conveyancer is querying the source of funds which is not the problem for me but I do not know what else to provide as an evidence and it's really getting frustrating.

I was initially requested to provide last 6 months' statements. After I sent them over, he came back asking for additional detail in respect of how I have accumulated the balance in my current account. I explained the money have been saved over time through employments together with investment in shares and cryptocurrencies which I attached SA Tax Return for capital gains tax paid on proceeds from investments.

Thereafter, he requested for statements of the shares and crypto currencies along with evidence of the money received from the investments and crypto currencies being paid into my bank account. I provided 25-page of detailed transactions of my investments showing gains/losses and in addition, I presented another set of bank statements showing how the money was paid into my account.

The conveyancer does not seem to be satisfied with all the evidence and he wouldn't reply since 2 days ago. I also sent an email yesterday, no response yet.

I really don't know what next to do, I have around 3 weeks time to exchange contract according to the developer after which the property will be listed back to market and I risk loosing money paid so far, over £6,000 (Reservation fee, home upgrade costs, mortgage application and valuation fee and fee for searches)

lisyloo

Is your conveyancer local?
can you knock on the door until they answer?

univas01

lisyloo said:

Is your conveyancer local?
can you knock on the door until they answer?

Not local. I followed the developers recommendation

lisyloo

Can you get the developers on the case then?

univas01

lisyloo said:

Can you get the developers on the case then?

Yes, I was just thinking about that too. I shall contact them first thing in the morning. Thanks

ACG

How much is your income? 
How much is your deposit? 
How long a period do those 25 pages cover? 

If you are on £30k a year and your deposit is say £250k, that is more or less 8x your annual income. That is a lot and so understandable why the solicitor is delving. 

I would possibly suggest a statement from each January for the last 5 years for instance. If there are any years where the jump is significantly bigger than the rest, maybe get an additional statement showing those payments. Alternatively speak to the solicitor and ask them what they want. 

univas01

ACG said:

How much is your income? 
How much is your deposit? 
How long a period do those 25 pages cover? 

If you are on £30k a year and your deposit is say £250k, that is more or less 8x your annual income. That is a lot and so understandable why the solicitor is delving. 

I would possibly suggest a statement from each January for the last 5 years for instance. If there are any years where the jump is significantly bigger than the rest, maybe get an additional statement showing those payments. Alternatively speak to the solicitor and ask them what they want. 

Income is £62k/annum
Deposit is £150k
Those 25 pages are for 2020/2021 as submitted to HMRC for capital gains tax

Yes, it was in between Dec 2020 and Jan 2021 that I had big jump on my bank statement when I sold around £130k of my investments. I already presented the bank statements and that was the last time I heard from him - 2 days ago.

ACG

Im not the solicitor, but I think then I would want want to see those investments being built up. 
Bank statements are not going to be much use. So maybe an annual statement for the investments over the last 5 years. 

I can understand why they are delving as £150k is a hefty amount. I think you/solicitor can probably resolve it, but they obviously need to tell you what they want. 

univas01

ACG said:

Im not the solicitor, but I think then I would want want to see those investments being built up. 
Bank statements are not going to be much use. So maybe an annual statement for the investments over the last 5 years. 

I can understand why they are delving as £150k is a hefty amount. I think you/solicitor can probably resolve it, but they obviously need to tell you what they want. 

Thanks for your advice.

To be honest, nothing is being built up here as I know it sounds strange but you would have easily 10x your gains if you had invested in cryptocurrencies around 2020. Everything is in there in the statements I already presented and no wonder I paid over £11k in capital gains tax for 2020/2021 tax year.

If I was to send 5 years annual statements, it wouldn't make any difference because the bulk of the money was paid into my account in between Dec 2020 and Jan 2021.

ACG

I meant 5 years worth of crypto statements. 
If you did 10x your investment, you did better than me, I think I managed about 4x but I get your point. 

I have just checked mine, maybe you could do a report showing payments in over the last 5 years and then your cashing out amount over the last 12 months, in conjunction with showing you have paid CGT on them I would imagine that should be enough. 

Its a strange one as crypto is still new and some firms wont have processes in place for verifying that money. But I think maybe a conversation and talking it through will probably help. 

univas01

So, after back and forth from the solicitor for a couple of weeks, I have now being informed that they do not have the required experience regarding cryptocurrencies and as a result, they can not act on my behalf. 

I would have appreciated this from the solicitor since the beginning instead waiting this long and I have just 6 days to exchange contracts according to the developer. Though, I do believe this would be extended since it was their recommended solicitor delayed the process till this moment.

How do I ensure something similar do not happen with the new solicitor, provided I found one. What are the questions to ask or things to look out for?