Living in house for 9 months and still not signed for it

FredBloggs said:
This still puzzles me. Why would a building society advance the money if the there wasn't a signed contract?
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They would advance it on the word of the solicitor, this is how Mr Lynn and Co. were able to rip off the bank. (NB: Not Clubman's definition of rip off.)
 
Lads,
Many of the posters here clearly don't have a clue how the conveyancing system works.
To the OP - you do have contracts. You signed them when you paid over your 10%. This binds you to purchase the house, and binds the builder to sell it to you and do his work, assuming you comply with the conditions.
There is no such thing as "final contracts". There is only one set of contracts, which are already exchanged.
The last step is called "completion". This is where you pay over the balance and the builder gives you your title documents. It sounds to me like this has also taken place.
Personally, if I had been your solicitor I would have retained a significant portion of the balance until all snags were done.
OP I think you have misunderstood some of what your solicitor told you. I think, rather than worrying about it, you should simply call her/him and arrange a meeting so that you can get a copy of your contracts and ask all the questions that are on your mind. these are the questions I suggest you ask:
1) Does your solicitors have your title docs and are they all in order?
2) Has any money been held back?
3) Did the builder given any special undertaking to complete snagging, over and above what it says in Building Contract?
4) If monies have been held back, ask your solicitor to write a letter to builder saying that, if they don't sort the problem in 7 days, you will use monies to retain your own contractor to complete the work.

Good luck.

Kate.
 
But judging by some of the Op's posts, it sounds like they didn't go through the completion stage if she only remembers signing something when she was paying over the deposit. Did the OP sign the Deeds? If she did, it is difficult to see what redress she has with the builder especially if all the money has been paid over. As you say though it is probably a mis-understanding with the solicitor and this is not what happened at all but there are certainly questions there.
 
Hi Sunny,
The Op would not necessarily have had to sign anything for completion to take place. She must have signed the mortgage documentation for drawdown. After that the purchaser doesn't have to sign anything until after completion - she must sign the deed before it goes to the Land Reg for registration. It is not necessary for the purchase to sign the deed before it goes to the Rev Comm for stamping so sometimes there's quite a lag between completion and signature of the deed.

Kate.
 
To reply to Kate10:

Kate10 I have not misunderstood what my Solicitor has told me.

Completion has not taken place.

The balance has been paid over in full (if you look at my original post you will see the reasons why my Solicitor advised this).

The builder has not given over the title documents.

The Solicitor does not have the title documents.

I have not signed the deed for the Land Registery.

My name is not on the deeds.
 
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Aoileen said:
Completion has not taken place.

The balance has been paid over in full

The builder has not given over the title documents.

The Solicitor does not have the title documents.
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A solicitor is under an obligation to the mortgage provider to have good title and you did say you have a mortgage, is their a relationship between the solicitor and the builder because the situation you are describing is a cause for grave concern, a snag list is trivial in comparison. No one, certainly not a solicitor can hand over money if they don't have title or guarantee of title. Something is missing in this story. If the builder has been paid in full why has he not given title?
 
Aoileann,
I would have to agree with Bronte that there is something missing here. Kate10 gave a very knowlegable post on the subject and I would suspect that it outlines what may have happened.
One way or the other you should have been onto your solicitor for clarity by now. It well may be that you are worrying yourself unduly. If it was me I'd be camping in the solicitors office until I got some answers.
Hope it all resolves itself
FB
 
Hi Aoileen,
If your solicitor has drawndown your mortgage and paid it over to the other side without getting your title documents first, then they have made a very serious mistake.

perhaps what has happened is that monies and deeds are exchanged but held in escrow pending completion of the snag. I doubt that this happened though because if this were the case the builder would be all over you looking for release of his money.

I think you should call your solicitor.

Good luck.

Kate.
 
Your contract is signed. You stated we paid the 10% and signed for this, therefore your contract is signed. You paid your money over without closing documents, if this sis the case its time you get indapendant legal advise and contact the law society.
 
blanc said:
Your contract is signed. You stated we paid the 10% and signed for this, therefore your contract is signed. You paid your money over without closing documents, if this sis the case its time you get indapendant legal advise and contact the law society.
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Oh for goodness sake! Like that is going to fix her problems!

This woman moved in because :

"As the builder did not have house completed on agreed date for us he allowed us move in on December 1st as a favor seeing as we had nowhere to live and things were almost finalised our end anyway."

I suspect she put her own solicitor under pressure to try and close. I call it the "I don't care what you do or how you do it - just get me into that house or I'll scream and scream and scream" scenario. The best thing a solicitor can do in those circumstances is to clearly write down and explain to the client why that is impossible. Whatever has happened here is not at all clear.

BUT learn one lesson - don't complete until snags are (at least) practically done. OP is learning that lesson.

And if the solicitor was stupid enough to bend to the client's pressure and release funds, without recourse, then they are foolish, yes and OP should ask for a written explanation of their current position.

mf

I don't think she actually knows what her own position is - she needs to ask her solicitor the questions that Kate10 has posed.
 
Aoileen, how did the meeting with the builder go yesterday? Did you get anything resolved?
 
The solicitor has ultimate responsibility for requesting the drawdown or the loan money. They should only do it when they're satisfied that the legals have been finalised. The Bank will act on the solicitors instructions......sounds like the solicitor causes this mess.



FredBloggs said:
This still puzzles me. Why would a building society advance the money if the there wasn't a signed contract?
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Quick question if you have a mortgage should the bank not be looking for the Deeds of this property- given the money has been drawn down?
 
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