Can I get my money back from the solicitor?

1886travel

user1977 said:

1886travel said:

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

Have you asked them?

emailed yesterday but haven't heard anything back yet... 

1886travel

GDB2222 said:

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. 

We emailed our first solicitor and mentioned the deposited gift is actually from a certain country. They said they can assist with this although some additional AML checks is required. It's fair though. 

FreeBear

1886travel said: We are buying a new build house and have started the process with their recommended solicitor.

The general advice here (and elsewhere) is not to use the developer's preferred/recommended solicitor. You are usually better off using your own and make sure he/she is on your mortgage provider's list - That way, you can avoid any potential conflict of interests and get unbiased advice & guidance.

HobgoblinBT

Which country are the funds coming from?

Ath_Wat

GDB2222 said:

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.

" places this outside of our risk profile" doesn't imply breaking the law to me.  If they had meant it was illegal they surely would have said it was illegal.  It sounds to me that it's just a type of business they don't want.

wilfred30

1886travel said:

*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 

Was that before the war in Ukraine started?

1886travel

wilfred30 said:

1886travel said:

*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 

Was that before the war in Ukraine started?

Indeed... the money was received in last year December and January though...

user1977

Which country are we talking about?

Shaztastic3000

What country has sanctions? I guess you are either North Korean, Iranian or Russian eh?

steampowered

The £250 would be a "payment on account".

You are entitled to ask for that money back. It is possible that deductions might have be made if the conveyancers have already done work on your file, or they have paid a third party to do ID checks.