Solicitors... DISGRACEFUL!!!

ScooMagoo

Our mortgage discount rate expired on February 1st so we shifted to a new mortgage.

The problem is that although the solicitors (Anderson Fyfe) have written to us telling us that they have paid off our old mortgage, they [in fact] have not! The mortgage still appears in our online accounts - now 6 days on!

Having spoken to the solicitors and been told that they had made the payment by CHAPS it transpires that they actually wrote a cheque which is yet to be received by the old mortgage provider.

It is clear to me that the Solicitors have done this to get 'X many' days worth of interest on the amount they are paying off... approx. £160K.

Naturally we want the old mortgage paid off and do not want to make another payment on the old mortgage to the old provider.

Can someone advise us on the best course of action to get the old mortgage paid off?
Is there a governing body that one can write to etc.?

TIA.


…Personally I am aghast at this </I>absolutely disgraceful</I> behaviour of the Solicitor as they are not acting or behaving in the best interest of their customer... me! and are simply being GREEDY!

Noz

Are your old mortgage lender charging you extra interest, or will they honour the cheque from when it was supposed to be paid in?

ScooMagoo

I spoke to a Senior Partner at the Solicitors who advised that the payment is made as advised on the Redemption Statement... which apparently states payment by 'cheque'???

Errr... this is the 21st century... the Cenozoic era (the age of new life), an age which makes even 'CHAPS' and 'BACS' payments sound like pre-historic monsters... obviously not when it comes to Solicitors and Banks who are clearly stuck somewhere in the Mesozoic era!

Whoever said 'the customer is king' - in the words of the great Ricky Tomlinson... 'My A*se!'

Noz

So are you being charged extra interest or not?

stevie_wonder

It is clear to me that the Solicitors have done this to get 'X many' days worth of interest on the amount they are paying off... approx. £160K.

I doubt that, 6 days interest at 6% on 160k is about £150 - I dont think the solicitors will be that bothered about trying to wring as many days interest out of it as possible.

Saying that, if they've had the money and should have paid it off, the question remains - why haven't they done it yet? They should be liable for any interest, if any, that is incurred on the old mortgage.

oldagetraveller

stevie_wonder wrote: »

It is clear to me that the Solicitors have done this to get 'X many' days worth of interest on the amount they are paying off... approx. £160K.

I doubt that, 6 days interest at 6% on 160k is about £150 - I dont think the solicitors will be that bothered about trying to wring as many days interest out of it as possible.

Why not? Multiply that by the number of customers' monies they are holding and it will mount up over time and is a nice little earner.
To the OP make sure they don't charge you for the non existent CHAPS payment either, I wouldn't put it past them.
Whatever the senior partner later told you, if they originally advised the payment went by CHAPS and was subsequently sent by cheque then I'd be after them for any interest or penalty you might have to pay as a result. Why didn't they send the cheque to arrive on the due date as well, or were you a bit late in instructing them?

homer_j_3

I would call the mortgage lender you are trying to redeem with and ask if you can have a copy of the redemption figure. See what the instructions on there are.

If the redemption figure only states that this can be paid by cheque then there is a weak argument that the solicitor should have tried to see if this could be paid for via TT or BACS however the solcitor at the end of the day is just following the instructions.

If the lender admits to accepting alternative payments but simply hasn't made the changes to their paperwork then you may wish to put a complaint in with the lender for this.

Personally if they cannot (and whether we are in an age where this sounds impossible) accept payment this way then that is the way it needs to be done. I would look to go back to the solicitor and state they you want the interest refunding in excess of the 3-5 days that a cheque would normally take to clear.

WestonDave

I think a little calm is needed here.

1. It is not uncommon for mortgage companies to be perfectly happy for redemptions against a set figure to be paid by cheque and they will honour that with no extra interest charged. If the statement says "by cheque" then its highly likely that will be the case.

2. If it isn't the case it will be the solicitors that will be in the schtuck because they will have given an undertaking to the new mortgage company to secure the discharge of the old mortgage. That will only happen when it is paid in full and if there is an interest balance due that request will first go to the solicitors who will have to decide if they have the nerve to ask you for it! At which point you can justifiably go off on one!

3. Check your invoice - if you have been charged for a CHAPS payment as a disbursement and they have not sent it by CHAPS then they are in trouble as you cannot list disbursements that have not actually been incurred.

I realise its a stressful business which appears to be clouded in dark arts but most solicitors are reputable and all are bound by more codes of conduct than most of us would care to have imposed on our work!

chappers

Get over it they have done exactly as your mortgage company asked.You were wrong and they were right

stevie_wonder

oldagetraveller wrote: »

Why not? Multiply that by the number of customers' monies they are holding and it will mount up over time and is a nice little earner.

It is a common misconception that solicitors hold on to clients' money for as long as possible in order to earn (and keep) the interest on that money. In fact, this does not happen (unless it has been expressly agreed in advance with the client) because interest on clients' money belongs to the client as much as the money itself. The Law Society has strict rules about it and every solicitor is aware of them (I assume your solicitor is a member of the law society? If it is then you have recourse).

Mind you is the issue really that you think they are claiming interest or that they haven't repaid the mortgage lender in time?

oldagetraveller

stevie_wonder wrote: »

The Law Society has strict rules about it and every solicitor is aware of them

Of course they do :rotfl: and being aware doesn't mean they're not flouted on the quiet, that's why a lot of solicitors are currently under investigation for malpractice in property dealings - BBC Panorama on Monday.