How often can I call my solicitor?

jentt

asking for your advice, please.

It has been 10 weeks (2 months & 10 days) since our offer got accepted. Our purchase is quite straightforward with no chain, we are first-time buyers and the property is empty. We've got the mortgage offer, and search results were returned last Friday. We've reviewed search results and pre-contract docs and sent our queries to the solicitor (nothing significant, just for some certificates). The vendor's solicitor responded to initial enquiries this Monday. 

Our solicitor has proven terribly inefficient and incompetent. She either does not respond to emails or responds after around 10 days. In the first 4 weeks, she told us the vendor's solicitor had not sent her pre-contract forms so she could not start any work (including submitting searches). I called the EA to chase the vendor's solicitor, but only found out that they sent the documents to my solicitor 5 weeks ago and never got her response. So our searches were delayed for over a month only because she ignored the emails. We never met (it's my mistake in instructing a solicitor who's not local). I called her 3 times (more than the number but only 3 were picked up by her/admin) in the past 10 weeks. 

When I heard from the EA that the vendor's solicitor had responded to the initial enquiries this Monday, I phoned our solicitor Tuesday to ensure she received them. She said she had not. I told her the EA said it was sent on Monday, and then suddenly she was able to find it in her inbox... 

We are very keen to move in, and our vendors are very keen to get the sale done. We have a holiday booked for late October, so really hope to get exchanged and completed in 6 weeks' time (would you think it's possible?). However, our solicitor said (during the Tuesday call) that she could not estimate the timeline nor should we consider potential exchange/complete dates until she finishes reviewing the responses from the vendor's solicitor. Do you think it would be fine if I call her again this Friday to ask whether she has reviewed the vendor's solicitor's responses and search results, and ask her for the next steps? Or is that too much (two calls in one week)? 

so frustrating trying to get our solicitor to respond and/or do the work. 

 

Tiglet2

Friday is the busiest day for completions.  Completions take priority.
If you feel you must call, leave it until next Tuesday.

To be honest, it does take around 4 weeks for the seller's solicitor to get the seller to complete all the initial paperwork and return it for the draft contract pack to be sent over to your solicitor to review, approve and raise initial enquiries.

Your searches were not delayed.  Your solicitor wouldn't have ordered them until the draft contract pack had been received.

The draft contract pack was received 5 weeks ago (totalling the 10 weeks or thereabouts that this transaction has been going on).  In that 5 weeks, they've reviewed the paperwork, raised initial enquiries, got responses to the enquiries and ordered your searches.  I don't think that constitutes any delay, inefficiency or incompetence.

Perhaps they have failed in managing your expectations.  

Is the property a probate sale?  Has probate been granted?  Is it leasehold?

Just because there is no chain it does not make this property straight forward.

Strummer22

Call frequently, every day if you want to. Cite the fact that she has history (ignored docs for 5 weeks, only bothered to find enquiries when you said you'd been told by the EA they'd already been sent). If you can't get through, email and say you want to make a complaint. Try and find a general or specific email for the firm (e.g. info@ or sales@) to copy in, so that any complaint doesn't just go to your solicitor. If a supervisor has been copied in to any of your correspondence, send any complaint to them too.

If you want to exchange and complete in the next 6 weeks, you might have to ditch this solicitor and go with a local one, with an office, that you can go and see in person. Your current solicitor will eventually get you over the line but don't count on it being this year.

ohsweetcaroline23

If you are feeling dissatisfied with the service that you are receiving, next time you call, it may be worth asking to speak to a partner or more senior solicitor at the practice for some "reassurance".

Tiglet2

Strummer22 said:

Call frequently, every day if you want to. Cite the fact that she has history (ignored docs for 5 weeks, only bothered to find enquiries when you said you'd been told by the EA they'd already been sent). If you can't get through, email and say you want to make a complaint. Try and find a general or specific email for the firm (e.g. info@ or sales@) to copy in, so that any complaint doesn't just go to your solicitor. If a supervisor has been copied in to any of your correspondence, send any complaint to them too.

If you want to exchange and complete in the next 6 weeks, you might have to ditch this solicitor and go with a local one, with an office, that you can go and see in person. Your current solicitor will eventually get you over the line but don't count on it being this year.

Seriously??

Flugelhorn

I have used local solictors and got stuff done in 4-6 weeks, no problems and no pestering them. They weren't expensive (compared with what my neighbour paid) but got the job done 

blinko

OP is this an actual solicitor and solicitor firm or is it just a cheap online conveyancing outfir. if its the later be prepared for a lot of pain, they are cheap for a reason. You'll get there just in "their" time not yours

housebuyer143

blinko said:

OP is this an actual solicitor and solicitor firm or is it just a cheap online conveyancing outfir. if its the later be prepared for a lot of pain, they are cheap for a reason. You'll get there just in "their" time not yours

I have found the opposite to be true. The local ones having weeks and weeks to reply and the online ones replying in a few days. 

blinko

hmmm i dunno for mine, i get straight through on phone, but usually not much of an answer, they've all done that to me in the past. For definite ALL these conveyancers manage the time eg they will add an extra week etc to stuff which is understandable to give themselves wiggle room.

but by calling every day, what do you hope to achieve and do you think it will be successful?

RM_2013

we are at the start of the process but I’ve started doing a weekly round up for updates.  The solicitors seem fairly good so far and have come back to us the same day with updates and progress 

blinko

no problem, just be prepared some weeks nothing will happen, eg waiting for searches or vendor replies etc