In shock over solicitor's quotation

I'm based in Dublin. I did get onto another solicitor afterwards who said he wouldn't have a problem taking me on, if I wasn't so close to closing date - he felt it would be very complicated to change - just to add to complications, the sale of my house is a joint one with my ex-husband's solicitor...so I guess my solicitor and my ex-husband's solicitor got together and agreed a price without consulting us. I have spent a large part of the last ten days on the phone or online trying to sort this out - meanwhile I am trying to work, pack up home for myself and my children and deal with the other matters involved in moving house. I feel like I am just stuck with current solicitor now - apart from anything else, I am afraid of jeopardising sale or purchase.

Thanks for all the advice - I'll let you know how it goes.

I wonder what fees the second solicitor you approached charges!!

No matter how inconvenient it is, there is no way I would pay the €15.5k to the first guy. If the sale falls through as a result of the delay then you will find another interested party and end up at least 10k better off!

Kazbah is making a very good point- the absolute worst that could happen is that the sale/purchase falls through. How difficult would it be to resell your house in the current climate? Have you absolutely fallen in love with the house you want to buy to the extent that you are willing to overpay by at least 10,000 to avoid any risk of losing it? I think you should take a step back from what you are doing, and think about it. You may well regret this when it is too late.

It's not only the money, it's the principal of the matter. If noone stands up and says this is unacceptable charging then nothing will change. To be honest I would also look into reporting them. To fob off your requests for a quotation and at the last minute present one grossly over competitive rates seems like dodgy carry on.

Yes, I agree somebody should stand up to these people, but no, I don't have the nerve to risk sale/purchase. Under the terms of my separation agreement my house was supposed to be sold months ago, so I'm behind schedule anyway. I fully intend to report this solicitor, for all the good it will do me, but for now, I will grin and bear it...

Sav H,

Don't get me wrong - 1% on each side of two transactions is out of kilter with the general marketplace; but as this thread has gone on, it is also becoming clearer that your sale is not a straightforward matter.

Firstly, it seems that it isn't a sale of your house. It is a joint sale of you and your husband's house, involving two solicitors, following a separation\divorce. No solicitor would handle such a sale for €999 plus V.A.T., or at least I don't know any who would. But somewhere around €1,500 - €2500 plus V.A.T. would be the main range of fees, I would have thought.

Secondly, it appears that the sale of this house is "months behind"; Is it the case that your husband's solicitor and your own solicitor have had a lot of correspondence and contact about this?. Possibly the process has been quite fraught? It would be normal enough for tension to arise where one spouse is still in the property, thereby giving the other spouse the impression that he\she can just wait as long as it takes for his share. This leads to daily phone calls, letters back and forth etc. This all costs money. If I were your solicitor, I would charge you a normal enough fee on the sale of the house, but I would also invoice you for any such extra work caused by this delay. It mightn't necessarily come to 1% of the sale proceeds, but it might.

And by the way, if you are only getting half the sale proceeds of the house, I suggest you ensure that the solicitor only takes 1% of your share. Your husband, presumably, has to pay his own solicitor out of his share of the sale proceeds.

I can still see no compelling reason for you to leave your purchase file with this solicitor (if you want to dovetail the completion of the sale and the completion of the purchase to happen on one day, it will be easier this way - but not 5 or 6 grand easier).

You are right, by the way; reporting the solicitor is unlikely to be of much benefit; the fee, while high, would not be so high as to constitute an overcharging situation; very expensive undoubtedly, but that is not quite the same thing.

MOB said:

You are right, by the way; reporting the solicitor is unlikely to be of much benefit; the fee, while high, would not be so high as to constitute an overcharging situation; very expensive undoubtedly, but that is not quite the same thing.

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Would the fact that she has asked repeatedly for a quotation not work in her favour?

yes it would certainly help; but failure to give a quote in good time - while a breach of regulations - does not disentitle a solicitor from charging. Bear in mind also that if there was a bit of a drama going on in the past six months between the solicitors over this sale (whic certainly seems possible), but as yet no contract, the solicitor could not have given a reliable fee quote at the outset, or at least if he had given a quote, it could since have been overtaken by events.

So, the real issue is whether 1% constitutes an overcharge - i.e. a fee which cannot possibly be justified. It is a fact that some (a minority but more than a handful) solicitors still charge this, and that some clients still pay it, so I don't think it will be regarded as an overcharge.

Yes, I accept that my situation is more complicated than a straightforward sale and purchase. If my solicitor had charged me a reasonable fee for sale and purchase and extra for the "complications", I would have understood it better. The fee I am being charged is worked out on a percentage basis, with the joint sale being charged at a higher percentage rate. There is no mention of being charged for extra work. In fairness, as far as I am aware, there has been little or no contact between my solicitor and my ex-husband's solicitor over the last few months - my ex-husband just complained directly to me about the delay to avoid incurring legal fees. The legal fees will be split between myself and my ex-husband according to our share of the proceeds of the house.

It is important to me to complete sale and purchase on the same day - I did consider the possibility of giving the purchase to another solicitor, but decided it was too risky to do so.

If I had received a quotation when I asked for one back in November, I most certainly would have shopped around. It may well be that some solicitors charge 1 percent for conveyancing, but why would I have paid that much, when I could have got it cheaper elsewhere?

It may well be that some solicitors charge 1 percent for conveyancing, but why would I have paid that much, when I could have got it cheaper elsewhere?

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Isn't that what you are doing now?

What is wrong with solicitors in Ireland can they not give a quotation when asked for one.

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That is an extrapolation based on no evidence.

I feel that solicitors are in a legal con profession and change what ever they like for doing as little as possible??

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As you will see from the replies to this thread, there is plenty of competition out there on fees. However if the OP, knowing the fees quoted, chooses to pay them, that is a matter for herself.

Changing solicitors now would be a nightmare, the solicitor should have sent you written confirmation of the fees when you became a client, therefore, you have no legal obligation to pay the solicitor. Contact the Law Society and they will confirm this. If you tried to agree the fee and got no clear reponse the solicitor is in the wrong. Find out for yourself.....

"the solicitor should have sent you written confirmation of the fees when you became a client, therefore, you have no legal obligation to pay the solicitor. "


This is quite simply not true. Whatever about the rights and wrongs of it( and they have been well debated above) a professional is entitled to be paid for their services and while the failure to send a S. 68 letter is a bad thing, it does not negate the solicitors right to be paid.

mf

MF1 - 6 weeks waiting for a section 68 is not acting in a professional manner, especially when it was requested by the client! I personally would not look to pay zero but given the fact the solicitor has not acted properly, I wouldn't pay more than half percent. Are you a solicitor by any chance???

Law Society told me to go ahead with solicitor, pay the bill, and that I have up to five years to complain about the fees. The solicitor in question happens to be on a commitee in the Law Society... I'm not very optimistic about the outcome.

It looks like you're caught..... You don't want to jeopardise the sale. Eat humble pie, get the sale closed and pursue it then. Good luck with it!

Sav H said:

Law Society told me to go ahead with solicitor, pay the bill, and that I have up to five years to complain about the fees. The solicitor in question happens to be on a commitee in the Law Society... I'm not very optimistic about the outcome.

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Thats why the legal profession should be not self regulating and regulated by an outside independant body.

McDowell is out regulate every industry and bring everyone to justice except his own!

go through REA.ie and they will get a better deal for you with solicitors