Problem with solicitor

elantris

Hi all,
I'm a FTB and I don't have any experience with buying properties. 
Long short story: 
After 6 months of rising enquiries I have found out that my case was given to another solicitor ( nobody even asked me what I think about that). The lady who dealt with our case said that it is a complicated title, vendor solicitor is very awkward, he is not responding to her emails but around months ago she said we are ready to exchange the contracts.

Three hours later she called me again because she has changed her mind as the seller remortgage the property last year and he needs to provide clear title. Fair enough. 
Then around three weeks ago she called me to say to pull out.
Next day she send an email that she has the answers from the seller solicitor and to be honest it is up to me what I want to do with that. I have reviewed pros and cons and asked to proceed. I have also sign TP1 form, been advised to close ISA and guess what. Another day another email saying that the seller needs to provide a clear title otherwise our lender will not release money. Fair enough. 

Last Friday the seller has paid off everything what it was outstanding, Company House Clear and Land Registry clear- yesterday I was trying to call my solicitor and... she doesnt work there anymore as our case was way to difficult for her and my case was giving to another solicitor! 
So... I spoke with the " new" solicitor who said to me that he needs to check my files once again and he knows the seller solicitor privately and they can't stand each other. He also told me that he is a lair, bad person.. etc... Do I really need to know that? 

I have explain to him that we were waiting for the outstanding charges to be satisfy ( which they were on Friday) and we've been told that after that we can exchange the contract but I'm worrying that he will start from the beginning. I have also already applied for the new mortgage offer as the last one expired and also had a message from the broker that offer been issued. 
I don't know what to think about that. I'm not paying them to tell me that they don't like each other because now I'm worrying that we will be not able to buy that house? I understand that he needs to read the files once again as our case is a something new for him but...
Can he go back to enquiries once they've been sort out? The previous solicitor was not happy with anything. She even accused the seller of being a " fake person" because he is using a "fake company" to sell the house ( the company is not fake and the seller it is a "real person"). 
I'm really scared right now and don't know what to do... 

MovingForwards

If you have spare money, find another firm if you're not happy with the service.

Usually when a solicitor leaves a letter is sent to all their clients advising who has taken over. It's also normal for each new person to review the case and potentially spot things the previous one has missed.

Kyrae

There's definitely some alarm bells there when solicitors keep passing your case to someone else, and if the solicitor is concerned the seller is a fake person that's a big alarm bell. I'd be asking for more information about that, as there are rare cases of scams where someone tries to sell a house they don't actually own. The seller could well be a real person, but do they own the house?

Thrugelmir

The solicitor also represents the mortgage lender. It's their money at risk. Solicitor needs to be totally sure themselves before proceeding. There's some sharp people out in the wider world. 

user1977

It's perfectly normal for work to be reallocated among personnel in the firm - transactions typically go on for months, and employees are entitled to go on leave / be promoted / leave the firm etc, or simply require to rebalance workloads.

I suggest you seek clarification about the "fake person" comment (what exactly did they say?) as I suspect you may be reading too much into it.

And I don't see anything wrong in them being frank with you about previous difficulties with the other solicitor - would you prefer to be kept in the dark about it?

canaldumidi

As above, it's not unusua lfor a client's file to be moved from one solicitor to another.

When that happens the new solicitor clearly has to review the file and make sure everything is in order before Exchanging.

In this case, clearly there have been, and maybe still are, concerns about the seller's title and/or mortgage charges on the property.

It would be rash to ignore this and proceed until you get a clear confirmation that all is in order.

Your new slicitor will let you know once he's reiewed the file.

Frustrating I know - but for for whatever reason this has not been a straight-forward purchase and the seller's position and title must be checked.

TripleH

I had a house sale where solicitor changed during process (original solicitor arrested for stealing client money) and a house purchase where solicitor went on maternity leave. All quite normal.

Unless you're paying a fixed fee, check you're not being charged for the new solicitor to 'catch-up on your file' as that is irrelevant to your job.

There will be a number of people working on the files on a day to day basis pulling everything together. Most of the work is done by junior staff but reviewed by senior staff.

elantris

@Kyrae
The first solicitor simply told that he is to busy, the second one ( just found out) had not enough experience and it was to much for her as she doesnt like grade 2 listed properties.
I have asked for more information about the seller as he is the one who own the house. His solicitor carried out all the checks including money laundering to reassure my solicitor that he is a " real person". I also have met (hopefully future) neighbours who  bought another house from him ( that was 4 years ago) and they know him very well. 
After receiving all the information about the seller my solicitor admit that she was only "assuming".

I have raised my concerns with the " new solicitor " about that and he reassured me that it is not a scam. 

I just can't believe that this is happening to me.

elantris

@user1977
When I asked her what she means by saying " fake person" she wasnt sure what to tell me. She could not give me a clear answer. Then I asked her to find out more information and been told that she was only " assuming". 

@canaldumidi
All the enquiries are done and now I'm waiting for the report from my new solicitor . He also reassure me that there is nothing wrong with the seller. It will be just nice to know that somebody else took my case - because I was sending her emails and she wasnt replying.  

canaldumidi

TripleH said:

I had a house sale where solicitor changed during process (original solicitor arrested for stealing client money)..... All quite normal.

.....

In whose world...???!!!