Solicitor being unreasonable in asking proof of source of funds?

lb00

Hi everyone,

My brother and I are in the process of buying a flat in London with cash. The funds are being gifted by our mother, who resides in Italy.

We began the conveyancing process on May 10. As anticipated, my solicitor requested proof of the source of funds from my mother. She completed a Thirdfort check, and her funds are sourced from an inheritance from her mother, the sale of two houses, and a donation from her father.

Following the Thirdfort report, my mother provided evidence for all these transactions. She submitted documents, both the originals in Italian and translated versions in English, including the deeds of sale for the houses and the deed of gift for the donation.

Now, my solicitor is asking for the contact details of all the solicitors and notaries involved in these transactions, presumably to verify the information.

I understand the need to comply with AML regulations, but it feels like my mother has already provided ample documentation. I'm concerned that this additional step is unnecessary and could delay the conveyancing process further. This delay might even cause the seller to pull out, as there have already been other delays.

What should I do in this situation? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

BarelySentientAI

lb00 said:

What should I do in this situation? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Comply with what they want, or find alternative funds.  The solicitors basically have unlimited power to delay until they are satisfied AML is complete.

MeteredOut

Does the inheritance come from any extended "family" based in Sicily?

user1977

lb00 said:

I understand the need to comply with AML regulations, but it feels like my mother has already provided ample documentation. I'm concerned that this additional step is unnecessary and could delay the conveyancing process further. This delay might even cause the seller to pull out, as there have already been other delays.

What should I do in this situation? 

Why not supply the information requested, rather than delay things by quibbling about it? Suspicions are hardly likely to be allayed by you saying "no you don't need this information", are they?

Do you know the Italian lawyers are going to take ages to reply? They presumably aren't being asked to do anything complicated.

saajan_12

The options are
* Comply with the checks (do you know that the Italian lawyers will take long?)
* Find another conveyancer (and roll the dice on whether their AML checks are the same / longer / shorter)
* Find another source of funds (eg can you get a mortgage and then pay it off with mum's money? Then the bank will ask for AML checks, but by then you have secured the property and so it doesn't matter how long it takes except that you keep paying interest). 

There's no fixed amount of checks to be done, its up to the conveyancer's judgement, so you're unlike to argue against these. 

jimbog

As you say, the likelihood is that they need to verify the information. Changing solicitors who will probably do the same will only delay things further 

lb00

Thanks all. Yes I will send them the contact details and hopefully the Italian solicitors will reply fast even though it's 3 of them. Also my solicitor's advice has been generally good on the whole apart from this issue.
What frustrates me is that the documents were initially sent by my mum on May 30th. He has essentially had 45 days to request this information, yet he's only bringing it up now, just days before the exchange. 

Hoenir

As this is a flat in London the amount of "cash" involved is no doubt sizable. The solicitor will therefore take whatever steps are neccessary to protect themselves and ensure that the correct proceedures are thoroughly followed. When they themselves will be audited at some point in time.  

theartfullodger

Solicitor is following his processes.  You could find a solicitor who does easier more "relaxed" checks.  I'd not trust them.....

Comply or buy though some other route (your own cash, mortgage....)

Brie

Can you (assuming you speak Italian) or your mom phone the solicitors to ask for a speedy response?

Hoenir

lb00 said:

yet he's only bringing it up now, just days before the exchange. 

You are doing extremely well to reach that point after just 2 months on a leasehold flat purchase.