selling a house, required to trust solicitor?, or are there guarantees of some sort?

J

JoeB

Guest
If someone is selling a house then the buyer must sign the contract, then the seller does, then there's a short period until the contracted closing date, .. then the buyer pays, then the solicitor hands over the deeds, and passes the sale money onto the seller.

Is that the correct sequence?

It seems that the buyer must trust that the sellers solicitor will acknowledge that payment has been made, and won't dissappear, and will hand over the deeds. Is this correct?, or are there guarantees of any sort for the buyer?


The seller must trust that the sellers own solicitor will hand over the money, AFTER the deeds have already been passed to the buyer... what if he doesn't? Are there guarantees of any sort for the seller?


When I say 'guarantees'.. I mean guarantees that don't require long and costly court cases. Can an assurance be obtained from the Law Society that if the solicitor vanishes the money will be paid to the seller promptly?


What checks should be made that the solicitor is recognised by the law society and what insurance, if any, should he have in place?

What documentation should be obtained from the solicitor to ensure he is correctly set up? What type of receipt should be obtained from the solicitor for the purchase money before the deeds are signed over? Do the deeds themselves need to be signed by the seller to confirm the hand-over?


It's a very nervous time for the seller, especially with the possibility of default, and bank failures. What happens to money in transit from a failed bank to a non-failed bank?, could it be lost?

I'm aware that not all solicitors are trustworthy... why would they be?, .. it'd be a massive generalisation to say that all solicitors are worthy of trust. You cannot say that about any sector. So are there guarantees of any sort?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
 
The system works for 99% of the people and the Law Society has a fund to cover rogue solicitors.

You have to place your trust in the system or you'll never progress.
 
well yes, but it's still a nervous time.

I hope it's a lot higher than 99% ! I hope it's closer to 99.999%, i.e one failure in 100,000 sales. I wonder what the historical rate is?

(I think that's what you meant, 99.99%)

It'd be horrible to be one of the unlucky ones. The compensation fund is well funded I hope?


Well, I suppose then the question is where do I find info on how the Law Society compensation fund is accessed? (I have checked the LS website, but more pointers would be useful, especially on the process of claiming.. i.e what documentation is required?)


That rogue solicitor from a few years ago, .. were all his customers compensated with no quibble?


edited to add: The questions about what checks are required to ensure your solicitor is covered by the Law Society are still open... and also what insurance should he have?, and what documentation is proof of this? For example, is it prudent to ring the insurer and check that the policy has not been rescinded?
 
In every profession there are rogues. You'd be awfully unlucky to get one of the criminal ones. You will get your money back but I imagine it is a long drawn out process for those involved with say Michael Lynn, Malocco, Thomas Byrne etc Not sure if there is a database of rogue solicitors or a guide to what customers should expect in terms of service from their solicitor. Something the Law Society might think about.
 
Yes, there's an element of trust alright.

Paddy: thanks for the link, very useful.

From reading through the Compensation Fund doc it seems that the fund will award money quite easily, if you have the required proof, receipts etc. No mention of time scales etc, but there is a possibility of being awarded compensatory interest etc on the money you should have had, and also money to pay for a new solicitor if work needs to be re-done. (Rates not might be great though... for example, I think they mention 600 for a conveyancing, .. but you can ask for more)

So the LS obviously understand the need for a compensation fund, and they seem to do it well.

Has anyone any bad experiences with the fund?

edited to add: The fund only covers dishonesty, not incompetence etc.. so insurance is needed for that.
 
What choice do you have? You would need to be a solicitor yourself to validate what the other solicitor is doing.

Have you ever tried to wade through a house deeds for example? Its not easy and unless you are a trained legal person you won't have a clue.
 
well yes, no choice really.

But you could use a big firm rather than an individual.. so even if there are rogues within the firm you should be ok. I presume the big firms charge more. The big firms cannot deny responsibility for the actions of an employed rogue solicitor can they?

The person involved is using an established firm, with more than one solciitor, who came recommended, who are listed on the LS website with correct and confirmed details, and they have PI insurance which is valid. Also rateMySolicitor reckons they're good, if that counts for anything.

I suppose that's plenty of re-assurance there, and all that can be hoped for really.

Thanks for all the help.
 
You cant ask to be paid in the form of a draft/cheque from the buyer payable only to the seller ?
 

Bear in mind that a number of the recent cases of alleged solicitor fraud involved high-profile, multi-partner firms that would have easily satisfied all the above tests.
 
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