Hi, I’ve got a house purchase running for me to buy a new property, and the owner wanted to exchange on may 8th and complete on the may 17th.
I’m a cash buyer so I’ve been ready to go for weeks now. My soliciter has just called me saying that after 3 weeks they have had no contracts and as a result, they still cant do the searches. Searches are taking 2 to 3 weeks to come back so I’m never going to hit the 7th for exchange.
The owner has found out and gone mad, saying he’s going to withdraw completely as he’s in a chain and if we cant exchange on the 7th he’ll have to break it. This leaves me having spent money with my soliciters, structural engineers and surveyors to the tune of £1200.
What can I do? His soliciters have had everything they need for four weeks now and just haven’t done anything with it, and thats the only reason its going to fall apart. Can I sue them for the money I’ve spent as it’s down to pure laziness on their part?
Edit, not sure if I was clear, my soliciters are going hell for leather to get the documents, it’s the sellers soliciters that are dragging their heels.
Hi,contact the Ombudsman for Solicitors.Sounds to me has if you have a good case.Do you know why the seller did not chase his solicitor.Good luck
technically – yes
however will a soliciter sue another soliciter, you might sue them, you have a track record.
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get your solicitor to get of his arse and send the other persons briefs a letter stating if they do not get it sorted by that date then you will take them to court for you loses as a result of their inability to get those things sorted out in time for you to complete
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If the solicitors are at fault I suggest you write to them and ask them to explain their actions. Withhold payment.
If their explanation is unsatisfactory then you can complain to the law society. The link below will assist.
xxR
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http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/redressscheme.law
I hate to say this but the solicitor does not need a contract to do the searches. the contract is drawn up after the searches are done, looks like your solicitor has forgotten or sat on his hands rather than get on with the business. Probably be able to sue but being solicitors will probably wriggle out of it.
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Yes you can sue a solicitor.I successfuly sued a solicitor
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Hi,contact the Ombudsman for Solicitors.Sounds to me has if you have a good case.Do you know why the seller did not chase his solicitor.Good luck
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Could take to Small Claims Court for up to £5000.
Citizens Advice Bureau is the best place for all information and help for matters like this. It’s a good starting point at least.
legal complaints service
http://www.legalcomplaints.org.uk/home.page
Call our helpline – 0845 608 6565 – to find out what help is available to resolve your complaint.
The Legal Complaints Service (LCS) investigates complaints about solicitors. We handle over 300 calls a day on a range of legal complaints. We have a dedicated staff of 390 helping you to resolve your complaint
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http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/aboutlawsociety/whoweworkwith/legalombudsman.law
Your solicitors are partly to blame: if they have not received the contracts, they could have chased this up with the seller’s solicitors. As for the searches, these can be carried out long before the contracts are received as enquiries may be raised on these & it takes a while for these to come back.
The owner can easily find another buyer if s/he wanted, as nothing has been signed at this stage & s/he is not bound to sell his/her property to you.
On the money you have spent so far, it seems you are liable to pay this (good idea is to look at the letter your solicitors sent you when you first instructed them: you may be liable to pay these costs incurred as well as your solicitors fee for the work done so far)
As to whether or not you can sue the seller’s solicitor for the money you have spent, it may be best to contact the law society directly (representative body for solicitors), have a look at the following link:
http://www.legalcomplaints.org.uk/home.page
or you can call their helpline on 0845 608 6565
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It is a nightmare trying to buy a home. I don’t think this guy is going to withdraw now as he wont get anybody else to buy it quicker than you now. He is just getting frustrated at the length of time solicitors take to do the paperwork. You would have trouble getting your money back if it did fall through. Just ask you solicitor to find out for sure if the owner is going to withdraw. I think he is just trying to push things along. We have been trying to buy a house since January with no chain and still waiting to complete. You can exchange and complete on the same day if the worse comes to the worse. Good luck. Let us know how it works out.
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