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Kad_Williams
Posts: 48 Forumite
How quickly would you expect your solicitor to turnover documents? I'm currently waiting for them to review a lease extension. They're apparently still checking over it today after a week. The week before it took them 5 working days to clock that this lease extension had not been sent to them.
Is this normal? Do solicitors put your documents at the back of a waiting list that they attend to in order of receipt? Even if there is a chance that something that doesn't demand the depth of their expertise (like flagging a missing document) needs action?
If this is the case - does anyone here thinks it works as an approach? It feels like it extends the process awkwardly.
Is this normal? Do solicitors put your documents at the back of a waiting list that they attend to in order of receipt? Even if there is a chance that something that doesn't demand the depth of their expertise (like flagging a missing document) needs action?
If this is the case - does anyone here thinks it works as an approach? It feels like it extends the process awkwardly.
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Yes they will deal with each file in turn, but not strictly chronologically. They will also prioritise urgent files. So if they have 15 files all Completing next Friday, with Exchange already happened so legally Compleion cannot slip, they'll double-check those files over the preceeding days and spend Friday manically chasing and managing the 15 Completions.
Your file, still at an early stage, will wait!
A further factor is that when they do work on your file, they may not send you their responses immediately. It's common practice for them to wait till they have all, or most, of the documents they need to review. So rather than send you 5 letters/emails, as each is received, they'll send a single letter/email summerising all the relevant documents: the searches, the enquiries, the freeholder pack (for leasehold), the contract, etc etc
Constantly picking up and reviewing your file each time they receive something is not time-efficient - far better to do it all in one go.0 -
When you say 'early stage' what do you mean? I'm guessing you're referring to the stage I'm at in the process? For context this is the month 9 in a purchase where I'm the buyer, and this is the final essential enquiry. The lease extension has been sent to them from the vendor's solicitor.0
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I'm not a mind-reader! Your OP made no mention of the above!Kad_Williams wrote: »When you say 'early stage' what do you mean? I'm guessing you're referring to the stage I'm at in the process? For context this is the month 9 in a purchase where I'm the buyer, and this is the final essential enquiry. The lease extension has been sent to them from the vendor's solicitor.
OK, so'mid-stage'. You are still not at a critical point like the cusp of Exchange or Completion, though you are, it seems, beyond the 'early stage'.
You've made no mention of whether everyone else in the chain is ready and waiting.0 -
Not expecting you to be a mind reader - was just trying to infer from your assumption! Hadn't expected it. No stress.
For more context, there is no chain - I'm just buying a vacant property from someone who previously had rental tenants in it - still empty. Just waiting on this one thing then 'pre-exchange checks' - as my solicitor calls them - can be done.0 -
A lot of solicitors have a team of paralegals/assistants working for them and they can do the majority of the straight forward work. Reviewing a lease extension would however require the qualified solicitor to go through the legal document. The solicitor will have other clients, other priorities and a legal document does require a level of concentration. Therefore, 5 days to go through the documents is reasonable.
As said above, your file is not at a critical stage because you can not exchange until the solicitor is satisfied with the lease extension. 9 months does seem like a long time, but the time starts from when your solicitor received the draft contract pack, not from when your offer was accepted. Also, when was the management pack provided as this is often a source of delay? Has there been a previous aborted purchase, or a change of solicitor, lender or amended purchase price? All of which can delay the process.0 -
Thanks for your response, Tiglet2. The issues you mention haven't been present here, interestingly. To be honest I'm less worried about the length of the process at this point. I was just noting it to give a broad sense that I wasn't at such an early stage. My main curiosities were firstly, that it caught me off guard that my solicitor told me that they had received documents (in response to my asking if they had received the lease extension) and then told me 5 days later that the lease extension was missing. Secondly was the fact they hadn't reviewed the lease extension yet having now been resent it. Though I can now see, based on your read of the situation, that this entirely normal(?)
This is all and education for me. I anticipate, for some purchase in the future, buying in cash and using my solicitor as a private client! But between now and then I expect there may be one more mortgage reliant purchase and one more lender panel solicitor to work with so understanding the scale of certain tasks is helpful to my mind and my soul!0 -
When you instructed them you should have asked them to agree timing with you. In any event, they are clearly not managing your expectations. Just drop them a line and ask them to let you know the date by when they will have completed their review. Most people forget to impose / agree some sort of timing for the production of legal work (and in part that's because the conveyancing process works at the speed of the slowest), however, when it comes to something like this, you could be very clear with what you expect. Of course, the quid pro quo might be that you have to pay more - which isn't something most people like doing.0
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I would say it's normal. In my experience solicitors don't do fast when it comes to conveyancing.0
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Nobody is going to have a regular turnaround time. Timescales are going to depend largely on the volume of work the solicitor has from time to time - there are going to be peaks and troughs, and differing priorities from their various files. Obviously they'll look at your file immediately if they've got nothing better to do.
It's the flipside of the moneysaving demand of having lower conveyancing fees - you achieve that by turning it into a production line. If you'd like your solicitor to be drumming their fingers ready to spring into action when you demand, you'll be paying substantially more for the privilege. And it won't necessarily speed up the transaction in general, given how much of it depends on the speed of the other parties involved.0 -
SmashedAvacado wrote: »When you instructed them you should have asked them to agree timing with you. In any event, they are clearly not managing your expectations. Just drop them a line and ask them to let you know the date by when they will have completed their review. Most people forget to impose / agree some sort of timing for the production of legal work (and in part that's because the conveyancing process works at the speed of the slowest), however, when it comes to something like this, you could be very clear with what you expect. Of course, the quid pro quo might be that you have to pay more - which isn't something most people like doing.
For me this is particularly helpful advice. There is varying advice on this forum as to how much you should expect from solicitors and how much/what you should ask of them. It seems to bounce between letting them get on with it and applying high pressure. This is a balanced response that fills a gap in my knowledge and apparently many others'. It's a shame that people don't feel empowered/know to ask that simple question.
I just called to ask them when I should expect to hear about this lease extension. They've said 'today', as the my solicitor is currently looking over the file.0
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