NO contract, withdrawing from purchase, Solicitor's fees.

[Birdhouse]

After nearly 8 months since sale was agreed and we STILL don't have a contract for sale, I am going to withdraw from the purchase.
My solicitor has done a lot of work as a result of a number of irregularities, so he is obviously entitled to be paid for that + the basics.

My questions are -

In addition to his basic legal fee can I require him to itemise his letters, calls, emails, between himself and me, and between himself and the estate agent and seller's solicitor, if I'm charged for each of them, etc?
​

Do I presume correctly,that, since there's no contract and obviously no sale, then there is no charge for "Land Registry Fees on Transfer?"

I do not want to pay for items related to those things I clearly instructed him not to do and said (in writing) that I would hold him harmless if they created a big expense for me. If he charges me for these, can I contest politely without getting into a nasty situation?
​

He spent time and effort retreading some specifics AFTER I instructed him not to revisit. He went ahead and handled one item that I told him I wanted to do myself, and was able and prepared to do. It did not require his assistance. I was unaware he had done these things until after they were done. He and the Seller's solicitors engaged in an unusual number of phone calls and letters. Grr

Thanks for any information.

Bird

 

[mf1]

You clearly believe that there are fees to be paid. You equally clearly believe that your solicitor ignored very specific instructions from you and did things you specifically instructed him not to do. You sound very "hands -on".

You should ask for a bill. If you want a very detailed itemised bill, you should ask for details of everything.

"In addition to his basic legal fee can I require him to itemise his letters, calls, emails, between himself and me, and between himself and the estate agent and seller's solicitor, if I'm charged for each of them, etc?"

This is a lot to ask if you are only getting a very basic bill. I suggest that you hold your fire until you get the bill. You should try and work out beforehand what you think a realistic bill would be. If your estimate and the solicitors are similar, that is a good thing.

If there is a big difference ( and lets assume you are charged for all the work the solicitor actually did) you should ask yourself if you think you should pay for work actually done on your instructions.

mf1

 

[Dr.Debt]

I think MF1 is right. keep your powder dry until you see the bill. In my experience, Solicitors tend to go very easy on property transactions that fail to materialise.

Not so long ago, I was trying to purchase a commercial premises which after some time and a lot of effort on my Solicitors part, the transaction collapsed. I called my Solicitor to ask how much i owed him and his response was "No charge" I sent him on 500 euro which should at least have covered him for 10 hours work.

I have used the same Solicitor a number of times since and we have a great understanding.

By all means get into a squabble if you think you are being overcharged.