Dropped by solicitor

Huiyy

Hi. I originally used Habito Plus to use for the purchase of my property. I got an offer accepted. I’ve got my mortgage done. Had my level 2 survey done. A lot of problems arised. And the surveyor said i should get a structural engineer report (which i plan to do). I’m a first time buyer so i’m trying to research everything and new to all of this. After the survey was ticked as done in their portal, Habito just out of the blue didn’t want to represent me any more. They said it was because of the documentation review. Maybe the AML check?.

I’m gonna be straight, my bank accounts are quite messy. I’ve tried to keep them clean the past few months though. There is 1 crypto transaction in the last 6 months (+£594). There are maybe 5 cash withdrawals because i play poker at the casino as a hobby. There are 4 cash deposits using the post office which were poker winnings. Few betting transactions every weekend. Habito did say to me if i had more in my bank and the £594 wasn’t included and i still had the deposit without it, that would be fine though. So don’t know why they dropped me.

How messy is this? The deposit i’m using is £47,000. I currently have around £52,000 in my bank. My accounts are messy because it’s not like i save into my savings every month. I regularly transfer between accounts and because i live at home with my parents and have a full time job, i’ve got spare cash to splash around. Sometimes i might win gambling, poker wins, left over cash from full time job. So over the last 20 years i’ve built my deposit up to £47,000.

I don’t want to have the same problem and get dropped again by the solicitors. How can i avoid this?

I looked at My Home Move Conveyancing. But it says on their website “If you are funding your transaction with crypto currencies or with money drawn down from a crypto wallet provider or investment platform, we will not be able to act for you.”.

Should i avoid this then? The 1 crypto transaction was 2 months ago and even without that (+£594) i still have plenty of money for my deposit. But it’s currently mixed into my savings. Would they really drop me for 1 crypto transaction that doesn’t have any impact on the deposit?

I’m trying to find a solicitor but i just don’t know who to choose. Some say they aren’t on the panel list and some don’t allow crypto.

Thanks, sorry for the long post.

Emmia

It might be best if, whilst you're in the process of buying you avoid the casino, crypto and anything else that a mortgage lender and a solicitor would see as "dodgy" or would question in some way.

born_again

TBH, it's to late if the source of funds inc crypto.

sherlock228

walk into a high street solicitors and tell them upfront
part of your problem appears to be your desire to "go cheap" by using online conveyancing machines that are run by computer says no

GDB2222

How are you choosing your solicitor? You may need to pay more so that they can give more detailed consideration to your AML.

sammyjammy

I know you haven't asked but from a space of concern, do you have the gambling etc under control? Will this stop when you have a mortgage? If not this could be the worst thing you ever did. Now is a good opportunity to stop, keep your accounts clean.

silvercar

My son plays poker online, his account is also messy in this regard. He had no trouble using a local solicitor.

user1977

Transfers between (your own) accounts shouldn't be an issue. Cash deposits (from any source) are more likely to be a problem - how big were those? You need to stop using cash (for deposits at least - doesn't really matter about funds leaving your account).

Also, what sort of property is it? It's possible that's what the firm thinks is risky or too much trouble.

grumpy_codger

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6674055/dropped-by-solicitor

my bank accounts are quite messy. I’ve tried to keep them clean the past few months though.

How many months exactly and how many did the solicitor want to check?

I posted here many times that my first question to a solicitor was how many months they normally check. And the answers, depending on degree of their paranoya, varied from 3 years to 6 months.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82049440#Comment_82049440

In some cases it's the less detailed the better. AML regulations are so vague that for many people (not doing anything wrong/illegal), the closer you look the more suspicous you get.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82049437#Comment_82049437

The same happened to me once - with a big high-street solicitors company. She wanted to see 3 years worth of statements - and you can imagine what it was in times of low interest rates when I chased higher rates and had dozens of current and savings accounts paying higher rates on limited balances and dozens of regular savers. To be fair, for a solicitor that all her life had one current and one savings account with the same bank this did look like ML, although it wasn't.

GDB2222

Over the years I’ve accumulated a bit here and a bit there. It would be a challenge for AML. I really must try to simplify it all.