Incompetent solicitors

[timwilky]

Sorry Ed,

But some of those in your profession need their bumps feeling.

My lad is trying to buy a house. The solicitor he appointed and paid for searches etc. failed to tell him that some mortgage lenders would not deal with that practice as it was a one man band operation, because of potential for fraud. (Thanks Ed for pointing out that this was not an unknown practice).

So he has appointed a new solicitor (Who said they would request the work to date from the original solicitor).

But they have now sent him a breakdown of costs, and request he pays immediately for the searches to be done again. and also identified a stamp duty requirement of £1,240. Their letter correctly identifies the purchase price as £124,000 so the 1% duty would be £1,240. To which my lad went mad as he had never been told about stamp duty and saw his bank balance disappearing. Happily I have told him he has appointed another incompetent as duty is only applicable on purchases of £125,001 and above.

These are people we trust to look after our interests. Are they really so poor?, No wonder the daughter has opted for the bar;)

[Ed]

No need for searches to be done again (assuming they were done properly in the first place).

No SDLT on £124K.

Point about sole practitioners is that PI cover does not cover fraud. So if the solicitor walks off with the mortgage money there is, in practice, no redress. The Law Society operates a compensation scheme (to which everyone with a ticket has to contrubute, me included - £500 this year) but they won't pay out on mortgage claims. In a partnership, PI cover doesn't cover the direct fraud/theft, it indemnifies the other partners against the defaulting solicitor, so that's the way round that.

I come up against this from time to time, so I have an arrangement with a local firm that they will do the certificate of title for me. But it's so pathetic because lenders such as Halifax, C&G and so on have no difficulty. It doesn't take that many completions on a busy day to have a hefty balance on client account, well over £2m, so it is really rather pathetic that poxy small lenders get so exercised over usually relatively small sums.

[Biker Biggles]

Tell your daughter mines a pint.:p

BTW I agree totally with your rant.We are plagued by incompetant "professionals",and despite increasing government regulation,the problem seems to get worse.Nothing like personal recomendation for most services I reckon.

[timwilky]

No need for searches to be done again (assuming they were done properly in the first place).

No SDLT on £124K.

Point about sole practitioners is that PI cover does not cover fraud. So if the solicitor walks off with the mortgage money there is, in practice, no redress. The Law Society operates a compensation scheme (to which everyone with a ticket has to contrubute, me included - £500 this year) but they won't pay out on mortgage claims. In a partnership, PI cover doesn't cover the direct fraud/theft, it indemnifies the other partners against the defaulting solicitor, so that's the way round that.

I come up against this from time to time, so I have an arrangement with a local firm that they will do the certificate of title for me. But it's so pathetic because lenders such as Halifax, C&G and so on have no difficulty. It doesn't take that many completions on a busy day to have a hefty balance on client account, well over £2m, so it is really rather pathetic that poxy small lenders get so exercised over usually relatively small sums.

Cheers Ed. When my lad originally commissioned the second set of solicitors, they agreed to use his original searches. I guess they have simply used a proforma letter and inadvertently left in place their standard set of charges.

However, I am really surprised that they put in place a stamp duty element as it must be normal practice to check if the purchase price is below the threshold.

BB mate. Nice one. I had forgot the younger daughter has also opted for the bar. But in her case propping it up.

[magical_mover]

Yep - i agree. Is a shame that there are such incompetent solicitors around. Amazes me how they retain their clients! My clients are all based on recommendations and i encounter awful solicitors on a daily basis :(gets me so mad as it gives the rest of us a bad press!

[Ed]

Yep - i agree. Is a shame that there are such incompetent solicitors around. Amazes me how they retain their clients! My clients are all based on recommendations and i encounter awful solicitors on a daily basis :(gets me so mad as it gives the rest of us a bad press!

Well I never did, another brief on the board:smt041

[fizzwheel]

Jez, you'll be wanting your own section and everything next..:D

[petevtwin650]

Jez, you'll be wanting your own section and everything next..:D

I wonder how much they'll charge us to read that section! :p :p :p

[RhythmJunkie]

You know what we could do with?
A new world order.......what am I saying?? :roll:

[Ed]

I wonder how much they'll charge us to read that section! :p :p :p

No win, no fee:smt003

[magical_mover]

Hi Ed - im new to the forums. Another legal brain on here - thats all everyone needs eh? :)