AML checks on completion day

Laurellie

We are having a nightmare. We were due to exchange contracts on Thurs but this got delayed to Friday, which was completion day. Our solicitor called us and went over our contract to exchange and we were told that completion day was the same day and there would be penalties if we didn’t go through with it. We have a cash buyer and we will then use that money to buy a mobile park home, so only us in the chain. After waiting most of the morning we heard from the EA that there was an issue with aTA13 form and it would soon be resolved, however the solicitor later said there was an AML issue and although they were in contact with the buyers solicitor by email, they could not contact them by phone and they had said they had phone issues which meant they couldn’t call the AML number that our solicitor had given them. So now we are stuck until at least Monday not knowing what will happen, but if we have signed can we pull out? We don’t know if the other side have exchanged as well or not. Any advice would be greatly appreciated 

user1977

Unless you were told that you had exchanged, you haven't - it sounds like it was planned to be simultaneous exchange and completion, so exchange will be whenever everyone is actually able to complete.

EssexHebridean

As. Rule, the process is that your solicitor calls you to confirm that you are still happy to go ahead and exchange - this is the point where they will reiterate that once contracts are exchanged, you are bound to go ahead and complete. It sounds like this has happened. As a rule then, exchange will happen at some stage during that same day, at which point you will get a further contact confirming that you are now exchanged. It sounds like you have not had this contact, therefore it’s likely that you have not exchanged. 

The protocols on AML have been tightened up hugely in the past few years, and do have to be followed. As a rule this causes few issues as there is time available even should things prove to be an issue, like communication for example as in this case. Unfortunately a simultaneous exchange and completion means that is not the case and something relatively minor can on rare occasions delay things. 

Laurellie

So apparently it’s the buyers solicitor that is not passing the AML checks. The branch they are using doesn’t have that address registered or the phone number although their head office is legitimate. Can they not just transfer the purchase to Head Office or is this not possible?

user1977

Sorry, whose AML checks are you talking about here? I don't understand what the issue is from what you say. Can't your solicitor explain it to you?

TripleH

I suspect the issue is that the buyers' solicitors are setting off red flags because the information they are giving does not match a register somewhere.

Think this is a check done to make sure the party who say 'yes, the money is coking from a legitimate source' are themselves above board and not some dodgy geezer pretending they are a regional office of a reputable chain.

If so its poor as you'd expect conveyancers to have this paperwork all in place.

I might be wrong on my assumption, but from my knowledge of money laundering, that would, to me, be the most sensible explanation.

Laurellie

TripleH said:

I suspect the issue is that the buyers' solicitors are setting off red flags because the information they are giving does not match a register somewhere.

Think this is a check done to make sure the party who say 'yes, the money is coking from a legitimate source' are themselves above board and not some dodgy geezer pretending they are a regional office of a reputable chain.

If so its poor as you'd expect conveyancers to have this paperwork all in place.

I might be wrong on my assumption, but from my knowledge of money laundering, that would, to me, be the most sensible explanation.

This is exactly what is happening 😏

FlyMeSomewhere79

I'm going through a similar hell, should have moved last Friday, buyers solicitor told us via our agent things were fine and about to be signed off for exchanging last Mon, a few days passed and we hasn't heard about the exchange been done and then we heard last thing on weds that my buyer had to re-issue his mortgage offer which was perplexing and we weren't being told why - discovered that the solicitor has changed company name and that has invalidated some of their clients mortgage offers so that could well be it.

My buyer chose a solicitor over 100 miles away that insisted on something to do with the mortgage being sent through the post to them so last week's exchange and completion got cancelled at relative short notice. We all agreed our completion with our solicitors over a month go and we are a really small chain, I have FTB's buying my place and my sellers are going into rented.

I was told on Thursday that the documentation they needed had arrived but too late for last week so I agreed to push it out to Fri 1st to complete and they promised my solicitor we'd exchange end of last Friday at the latest but they didn't answer the phone to her all day.

I put in a complaint to the buyers solicitors about being repeatedly being misled and deadlines repeatedly being missed - our mail is now redirected and we are paying the gas and electric on the new house which we can't reverse and has a family of five living in it - don't get me started on the nightmare of living in a shell of a home and surrounded by boxes, freezer off and defrosted, cupboards empty!

On Monday (yesterday) I found out that the buyers solicitor had failed to put a routine query to the lender which we now have to wait for so this week is now out because it takes 5 days for my funds to be drawn from my lender to buy our new home. It's hell! People might criticise me for us having redirected mail and everything but you can't pack up and do all the notifying on the day you move and we never expected the clock to be ran down like it has done or people to tell us so late in the day about drastic changes and issues we were previously told didn't exist - the buyers conveyancer has been taken off the job by his manager though who is trying to push things through as fast as possible.

Thing is it seems rare to find anyone who hasn't been through some kind of hell when buying / selling homes!!