Old solicitor charging more for less work than new solicitor?

[Cherrywood]

Hi Folks,
Hope you could advise regarding solicitors fees (will try to keep this as short as possible)
Basically I received re-mortgage loan approval from my lender for a modest amount of under 40K.
My then solicitor then contacted me to arrange to sign docs, to get ball rolling. I arrived at the meeting having NOT received copy of loan terms from lender, I discovered that terms required that my credit union loan be paid from funds, which then meant that we had to return to financial advisor to arrange an extra 10K to cover the c/u being paid.

At second meeting with solicitor was informed that as myself and OH were not married, and the loan and deeds of house were in my name only - my OH was required to seek seperate solicitor, as it was assumed she would have a vested interest in the property. I explained that as the loan was for such a small amount, and the loan terms plus the terms and conditions from lender did not make any reference to this, was this absolutely necessary? The solicitor insisted they would NOT process this further unless my OH got their own solicitor.
I informed the solicitor then that I would not be availing of their services.
(by the way both meetings lasted approx 30 Mins)

I then contacted a new solicitor, and requested from my old solicitor the return of the deeds and my fees which I would pay in full, and was shocked to receive a bill for just under 1,000K.
I then rang the old solicitor and asked why I was charged so much, and was told that was their fee for work done, and they flatly denied that I informed them that I would Not be using them, and any issues were flatly rebuked.

What I would like to know is
1. Should I pay them to release title deeds back to lender? And if I do can I later take up a complaint either with the law society or small claims court or consumer affairs later?
2. Does my OH have to get her own solicitor?
3. As my lender did not furnish me with copy of terms, surely I should not be charged for the first particular meeting as it was a lenders error? ( Solicitor insists that its not their problem)

Apologies for the long windedness of this post, but I found it hard to summarise this particular problem.

 

[MOB]

Re: Old solicitor charging more for less work then new solicitor?

1. You will have to pay fees. However, they have to return the deeds to the lender upon request, as the lender has first call on them, so the two issues are separate.


2. Yes. Or rather, yes if the job is being done properly. One possible theoretical alternative would be for the solicitor certifying the title to 'qualify' the certificate of title which they must give the lender - i.e. mention that your OH lives there and that they have not obtained any waivers from her and are not in a position to say if she has any claim on the property. I say 'theoretical' because if the solicitor asks the lender is it ok to qualify the title in this way, the lender will say no and will insist upon the waiver. Another alternative, of course, would be for your solicitor to simply ignore the issue. It will probably be fine, because you will probably pay back the mortgage; but sooner or later, a solicitor who habitually ignores such issues will run into a situation where a borrower falls into arrears, then a partner suddenly claims an interest in the property and the lender might perhaps look to sue the solicitor if it is shown that the solicitor was on notice, but ignored that issue when certifying that the borrower had a good marketable title.

If you can find a solicitor who is happy to cut corners like this, by all means use him/her to get your loan cheque - just don't go back to them when you have a serious problem.

I can understand where you are coming from with comments such as "........as the loan was for such a small amount..." but the problem is that your solicitor is required to give an undertaking to the lender that he\she will ensure that the lender has a first legal charge over a good marketable title. The undertaking is the same whether the loan is 40k or 400k. Most of a conveyancing solicitor's checks and precautions are, in a sense, wasted effort. We check everything to make sure that the lender has a good security. In probably 90-95% of cases, it doesn't matter, because the borrower pays back the money and the lender never has to test the adequacy of their security over the property. But we can't possibly do business on the basis that we will only dot all the I's and cross all the T's on those files where we think the client looks a bit dodgy......... We have to always assume that the worst might happen. That is our job.

3. Lender's 'error' is not relevant. Solicitor did work and is entitled to be paid. You might get them to make a contribution toward the costs if you can actually demonstrate that they made a mistake; on the basis of what has been posted, it is not clear that they have.

 

[Madangan]

Re: Old solicitor charging more for less work then new solicitor?

While I agree with what MOB has to say I would also be of the opinion, for what its worth, that if the OPs post is accurate in every way that the fee being proposed by the first solicitor is way way too high! And I say this as a solicitor. If all that first solr has done is two meetings and have not certified title etc.. as client going elsewhere then for a re mortgage like this fee should not be higher than €400 plus vat and actual outlays(total circa € 550) and many solicitors would not charge that much.

 

[Staples]

Re: Old solicitor charging more for less work then new solicitor?

Aren't you entitled to a breakdown of the work for which the fee is being sought? If it appears unreasonable, you should be able to contest it to the law society or some other third party agency.

I woudn't refuse to pay but I'd certainly query the bill to the fullest extent possible before parting with your cash.

Being a solicitor doesn't allow anyone avoid the provisions of consumer legislation but I'm not sure they all necessarily know this.

 

[dazza21ie]

If you feel that you have been overcharged then you have a right to make a complaint to the Law Society. It might be better to pay the bill now so that your re-mortgage is sorted and then make the complaint. If they deem the bill to be excessive then you will get a refund of overcharged amount. Did you get a S.68 Letter?