equity release

Please advise if any one can shed any light on the following,as I am extreemly confused.


I have applied for equity release from my current place of residance--90k etc

this has been approved etc...I htought then that it could draw down the money etc..

However the bank tell me they never recieved the land register form etc from my solicitors at the time ,that was four years ago!!!

The legal firm tell me it can take this long,and they are now trying to rush ot through--I hav payed for all this legal work at the time.

My understanding is that the banks had all relvant documents,in which I could just draw down the money as they would sort the legal end of it!

However now I am getting letters form the solicitors to sign documents,giving them authority to handle the re-mortgage!!!!!€1,000 aprox

Should I have to use them at all??


Please advise as I am under pressure to sign the letter,

Regards,

Slopes

Hi slopes,

I had a similar problem witha solicitor in my case it was 8 years. I went to the law society and they sorted it out. Although it took about 6 weeks.

You should make sure you send all correspondance to your solicitor in writing so that it can be sent to the law society later on if necessary. The law society will only correspond in writing.

I have released equity on my home (80K) and I didn't have to pay any legal fees. It was a Utophia top up loan with First Active. I think if you use the mortgage provider who originally gave you a mortgage then there is not normally any legal fees required as they should have all the legal stuff in place already. Contact your mortgage provider and ask if they have any requirement for legal searchs etc.

It sounds to me that you are being double charged for something which they should have done 4 years ago. I don't believe for one minute it takes 4 years. I presume that this advice was given verbally. What you should do is send a letter or e-mail to the solicitor, stating when and the person who told you that it takes 4 years and that you find it hard to understand the delay. Also perhaps state the you are a little concerned that you are being charged twice for the one service.

If the solicitors do not respond in writing then also sned a letter/e-mail to them conforming what they said.

The Law Society are excellant and believe me, solicitors will/have to react to them.

I'm presuming that you have the time to do this? If you don't it may be better to get a quote from a different solicitor. At least this way it will be clear if the original solicitor has work to do.(which you should make sure he does at no further charge to you)

thanks Don!

Really apprieacte you taking the time to respond.You said most of what I was thinking.I will contact the bank and state my case,see if they agree they should have all the paperwork at this stage,and The release should be plain sailing,

Though I do rememer the solicitor telling me that the house i am borrowing against had to be re-registered to show the extra money borrowed against it!!!!!

If there is an existing mortgage on your home then you simply apply for a top up loan. However if there is no mortgage on your loan then a new mortgage has to be created. This probably explains the legal costs?