Slow and very poor conveyancing solicitor service.

mirand

Hi all, 

Eleven months since I completed my purchase am still experiencing problems with my solicitor / conveyancing firm about their slow poor service, what complicated thing is that am now being asked by the freehold management company to pay charges remaining on the property from the previous owner. 

I made a formal complaint and they upheld it agreeing to pay nominal compensation yet nothing progressed, I put in 2nd complaint now before escalating the matter to the ombudsman.

The purchase is complete and am in contact directly with the landlord lease management company re: service charges.

What am waiting for them is to submit the relevant paperwork to the land registry.

Can I at this stage take my file to another firm of solicitors to finish the job and how easy is that? If not what would be my alternatives.

Any advice is appreciated.

Tiglet2

Your solicitor should have submitted an application to the Land Registry to update the title to show you as the new owner within a few weeks after completion.  The Land Registry does have a backlog of work, so it is taking months for them to deal with applications, particularly new builds, first registrations or transfer of part registrations.

However, the updated register is a separate issue from the management company and service charge accounts.

The seller's solicitor sends a completion statement to your solicitor just before completion,  This shows an apportionment of service charges for the period when the seller owned the property up to the date that you become responsible.  There is often an amount that the seller has paid (e.g. they may have paid six months in advance), for which you have to reimburse them and this is added to your final account from your solicitor.

The seller's solicitor may be holding a retention/sum of money in case there is a shortfall.  This is typically held for 12-18 months until receipt of the final accounts.  This won't be released to you (to cover a shortfall) or back to the seller (if there is no shortfall) until the final accounts have been published.  

If you have invoices to pay relating to a period when the seller owned the property, you should submit them to your solicitor so that they can claim from the retention held.  However, if final accounts have not been published, any repayment will be delayed, so you should pay the invoice before you become liable for late payment fees being added to the bill.

Were landlord notices sent to the Management Company advising them of the change of ownership?  The Management Company address any invoices to you, not the previous owner?