We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Hello Forumites! In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non-MoneySaving matters are not permitted per the Forum rules. While we understand that mentioning house prices may sometimes be relevant to a user's specific MoneySaving situation, we ask that you please avoid veering into broad, general debates about the market, the economy and politics, as these can unfortunately lead to abusive or hateful behaviour. Threads that are found to have derailed into wider discussions may be removed. Users who repeatedly disregard this may have their Forum account banned. Please also avoid posting personally identifiable information, including links to your own online property listing which may reveal your address. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Can I get my money back from the solicitor?

1886travel
1886travel Posts: 58 Forumite
Eighth Anniversary 10 Posts Combo Breaker
We are buying a new build house and have started the process with their recommended solicitor. My developer is aware that part of our deposit will be from overseas. The solicitor didn't mention any policies on sanctions on certain countries before. Once they received all documents and paper they said they are not able to proceed my purchase. 

"Unfortunately China is on a list of Countries where tougher sanctions are in place and which as a result places this outside of our risk profile. "

We've paid 250 quid to this solicitor. Can i get a refund since it's their decision to terminate?


*we cannot find any references or news on the government website... We processed with another solicitor for the purchase before with the oversea gifted deposit and everything was fine...

Thanks 
«13

Comments

  • canaldumidi
    canaldumidi Posts: 3,511 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 12 May 2022 at 11:05AM
    What was the £250 for?
    If it was a deposit to developer which has already been paid, I doubt it.
    If it was for eg for searches which has already been paid to the local authority, I doubt it.
    If it was just 'on account' to cover future costs the solicitor would incur, perhaps.
    Though even in the latter case the solicitor can probably charge for whatever time they've already spent on your case (at £150 per hour? £200?).
    it's their decision to terminate?
    I suspect they had no choice. It was the government's decision to impose sanctions.
    But you can certainly ask......

  • GDB2222
    GDB2222 Posts: 26,499 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 12 May 2022 at 11:08AM
    I’m afraid that I have sympathy with the solicitor. They don’t need to state that they cannot break the law, as that’s inherent in any contract. You can reasonably expect any unused part of the fee to be returned. 

    They may refund the whole lot, if you kick up a fuss, just to part company quickly.

     You now know that you can’t use this money from overseas for house purchase.
    No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?
  • 1886travel
    1886travel Posts: 58 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    What was the £250 for?
    If it was a deposit to developer which has already been paid, I doubt it.
    If it was for eg for searches which has already been paid to the local authority, I doubt it.
    If it was just 'on account' to cover future costs the solicitor would incur, perhaps.
    Though even in the latter case the solicitor can probably charge for whatever time they've already spent on your case (at £150 per hour? £200?).
    it's their decision to terminate?
    I suspect they had no choice. It was the government's decision to impose sanctions.
    But you can certainly ask......

    £250 is for preparing the paperwork. Another £1200 will be paid once it's all done. 

    As far as I am aware, it's not government's decision and we couldn't find any news or references on gov's website...
  • GDB2222
    GDB2222 Posts: 26,499 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 12 May 2022 at 11:12AM
    What was the £250 for?
    If it was a deposit to developer which has already been paid, I doubt it.
    If it was for eg for searches which has already been paid to the local authority, I doubt it.
    If it was just 'on account' to cover future costs the solicitor would incur, perhaps.
    Though even in the latter case the solicitor can probably charge for whatever time they've already spent on your case (at £150 per hour? £200?).
    it's their decision to terminate?
    I suspect they had no choice. It was the government's decision to impose sanctions.
    But you can certainly ask......

    £250 is for preparing the paperwork. Another £1200 will be paid once it's all done. 

    As far as I am aware, it's not government's decision and we couldn't find any news or references on gov's website...
    You think they may be mistaken about the sanctions?  They are obviously not making it up, but of course there can be an error. 
    No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?
  • 1886travel
    1886travel Posts: 58 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 12 May 2022 at 11:16AM
    GDB2222 said:
    What was the £250 for?
    If it was a deposit to developer which has already been paid, I doubt it.
    If it was for eg for searches which has already been paid to the local authority, I doubt it.
    If it was just 'on account' to cover future costs the solicitor would incur, perhaps.
    Though even in the latter case the solicitor can probably charge for whatever time they've already spent on your case (at £150 per hour? £200?).
    it's their decision to terminate?
    I suspect they had no choice. It was the government's decision to impose sanctions.
    But you can certainly ask......

    £250 is for preparing the paperwork. Another £1200 will be paid once it's all done. 

    As far as I am aware, it's not government's decision and we couldn't find any news or references on gov's website...
    You think they may be mistaken about the sanctions?  They are obviously not making it up, but of course there can be an error. 
    it might be their own policies I suppose as emailed a few solicitors about this and they were all fine with it. They just need to do some additional checks.  
  • which country are we talking about here? May shed some light on the matter.
  • GDB2222
    GDB2222 Posts: 26,499 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    That is clearly something to ask the outgoing solicitor. If it’s an arbitrary decision on their part, it’s very difficult for them to justify keeping your money. However, it’s not something I would expect them to do arbitrarily.

     You may be on some AML list, in which case they probably can’t tell you that. 
    No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?
  • user1977
    user1977 Posts: 18,379 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Seventh Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper

    We've paid 250 quid to this solicitor. Can i get a refund since it's their decision to terminate?

    Have you asked them?
  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic


    We've paid 250 quid to this solicitor. Can i get a refund since it's their decision to terminate?



    Have you asked? 
  • 1886travel
    1886travel Posts: 58 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    GDB2222 said:
    What was the £250 for?
    If it was a deposit to developer which has already been paid, I doubt it.
    If it was for eg for searches which has already been paid to the local authority, I doubt it.
    If it was just 'on account' to cover future costs the solicitor would incur, perhaps.
    Though even in the latter case the solicitor can probably charge for whatever time they've already spent on your case (at £150 per hour? £200?).
    it's their decision to terminate?
    I suspect they had no choice. It was the government's decision to impose sanctions.
    But you can certainly ask......

    £250 is for preparing the paperwork. Another £1200 will be paid once it's all done. 

    As far as I am aware, it's not government's decision and we couldn't find any news or references on gov's website...
    You think they may be mistaken about the sanctions?  They are obviously not making it up, but of course there can be an error. 
    not making up as everyone can have their own opinions. also if they think this would take more work to do when dealing with overseas money they don't have to start the process... 
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.6K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.2K Spending & Discounts
  • 245.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.5K Life & Family
  • 258.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.