Conveyancer issues - what do I do next?

JFort

Tiglet2 said:

JFort said:

Tiglet2 said:

Do you remember the solicitor specifically mentioning/asking you for additional monies for a Notice of Transfer and Charge (Notices)? 

The management company issue their management pack some time after the transaction has started which details any fees needed. 

The solicitor won't know what additional monies will be needed when you first instruct them, but they should have come up during the course of the conveyancing.  Your solicitor would then let you know that they require extra monies to cover the cost of the Notices.  It is not an optional fee.  If you didn't pay it, the solicitor would not issue the Notices.

Why don't you look through all the paperwork you were given throughout the conveyancing and see what the management pack says about their fees and whether your solicitor did request monies from you to pay for the Notices.

If the solicitor didn't request any fees from you or even advise that they needed to issues Notices, then they will need to do it now (once you've paid the appropriate fee).  The Notices need to be 'receipted' by the Management Company and sent back to the solicitor to confirm that the change of owner (and any lender's charge) has been acknowledged and noted in their records.

It may be that the solicitor did send the Notices, but the management company have lost them.  If so, your solicitor will have to send duplicates and a copy of the bank statement showing that the fees were paid.  

Either way, it is your solicitor that you need to speak to in order to find out what's gone wrong.

Hi Tiglet, and thanks for this detailed response. Its super helpful.

I have just checked back and yes, the management pack was issued back in February 2021 and outlined the fees for transfers. My completion statement outlines that I paid this fee as an 'allocation of service charge' (the amount is as per the management pack received, so I am presuming it is this).

I understand I need to speak to my Conveyancer - but I suppose my question is more where do I go next if they refuse to engage with me (as they have been doing for the last year).

An 'allocation of service charge' is surely the sum worked out as an apportionment of the yearly service charge split between the previous owner and you for the period when the previous owner owned the property (prior to May 2021) and the period when you owned the property (from May 2021) until the end of the service charge year, whenever that is.

I would expect your completion statement to show a separate fee for Notices.

I am sorry that you are having difficulty speaking to your solicitor, but they are the people you need to have dealing with this.  Perhaps consider writing a letter of complaint to their client care department.

Notices are included - apologies, forgot to mention this.

I have also already gone through the complaints process for the provider on this issue - a partial refund was issued, with the promise of resolving the remaining issues. This was around 6 months ago.

I guess Ombudsman is the next route..

JFort

Tiglet2 said:

JFort said:

Tiglet2 said:

With regard to the Land Registry application, there are lots of delays on registrations.

As User1977 says above, it may be that the application is still pending, rather than the solicitor has not submitted the application.

Hopefully - however the cause of concern is that properties that completed long after mine on the same road have shown up on the land registry (I completed in May 2021, the other two doors down in July 2021, and the other in September 2021 - both are showing as updated)

There was a big rush on completions before the stamp duty cut off at the end of June 2021 and again in September 2021.  If your solicitor was super busy, it may be that they didn't submit their application until these deadlines had passed.  However, if you ask the Land Registry Rep on here when the application was submitted (you will need to give them the title number), they will give you some idea how long it will take.  

Tiglet2 said:

JFort said:

Tiglet2 said:

With regard to the Land Registry application, there are lots of delays on registrations.

As User1977 says above, it may be that the application is still pending, rather than the solicitor has not submitted the application.

Hopefully - however the cause of concern is that properties that completed long after mine on the same road have shown up on the land registry (I completed in May 2021, the other two doors down in July 2021, and the other in September 2021 - both are showing as updated)

There was a big rush on completions before the stamp duty cut off at the end of June 2021 and again in September 2021.  If your solicitor was super busy, it may be that they didn't submit their application until these deadlines had passed.  However, if you ask the Land Registry Rep on here when the application was submitted (you will need to give them the title number), they will give you some idea how long it will take.  

Oooh there is a Land Registry Rep on here? That could be super helpful.

I've sent an e-mail with the title number asking them to check/investigate - so hopefully that will be fruitful at least..