Solicitor increasing agreed Fees !!

D

Derek

Guest
Last Sept I negotiated a fixed fee of €2,000 per transaction for the sale of my house & the purchase of a new house with my solicitor.
Unfort we did not proceed with the purchase of the original house we were intertested in & no contracts were signed.
We are now ready to sign contracts on a different house & have a buyer for our ownhouse.
Yesterday my solicitor wrote to me proposing that he now increase his fees to €3000 per transaction because of a)The increased sale & purchase prices of the houses & b) The "considerable" additional work he has incurred to date.

I don't believe he has incurred "considerable" additional work but there was some & the fee we agreed was not dependent on the sale or purchase prices.

I am ready to sign contracts next week & I feel very vulnerable to be faced with a solicitor who wants to re-negotiate his fees at the same time.
Any advise please ?

Thanks

Derek

 
Change solicitor! I am a mortgage broker, and use a panel of solicitors, who will charge €750 fees (plus VAT and outlay) What you solicitor is suggesting you pay is way over the top
 
I was in a somewhat similar situation when we bought our house. The mortgage broker "recommended" a certain solicitor and advised that his fee would be X punts. We went to the solicitor and went through the whole process in detail, he was very thorough and professional except when it came to the fee. He wanted half as much again (maybe more, can't remember) and justified his demand based on the (marginally)higher value of the house we were purchasing (ie not the budget entry level house he'd previously handled for the mortgage broker's clients)


We left his offices shocked, thought about it and wrote a letter to him the following day advising him that we would not be retaining his services, the contracts were returned and we subsequently got a cheaper solicitor who was more than happy to work for a reduced fee. Moral is : never be afraid to query the price of any service (except maybe heart surgery?!!
 
I think I have made a poor choice of solicitor, but you live & learn.

However, I am now keen to finish my house deal because it is at a very advanced stage.

What is the norm, if a solicitor spends time on the purchase up to contracts ready to sign stage & then starts the process again with another house & brings that through to completion. Has he got a case or should the quoted €2,000 still apply ?
What happens at auctions when people decide not to buy, what % of full fee do solicitors charge for checking the contracts. ?

Thanks again
Derek
 
Am I reading this correctly? You were buying one house, the solicitor did work on this, this purchase fell through and you have now bought a different house.
What makes you think that you wouldn't have to pay for the work on the first house?
Is the Solicitor to do this work for free??
 
I don't disagree that there should be some additional charge for the work done on the purchase of the house that fell through. I am enquiring as to what is a fair percentage, is it 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% to bring a purchase to that stage.
I am seeking advice here.

Secondly, my solicitor has proposed increasing the fees for the sale of my own house. They were prepared with a different persons name & sale price but not issued. The only additional work was to edit the name & sale price. For this his fee has been increased by €1000.
I believe that is very unreasonable.

Thanks again
Derek
 
"I think I have made a poor choice of solicitor, but you live & learn."

As a matter of curiosity, how did you choose this solicitor?
 
I got 3 quotes, his was middle of the road, deciding factor was that he was local & had covered a small accident case for me many years ago.

Any views on how to handle the situation from here on ?
Derek
 
My solicitor has not given me a price even though I asked. What would happen if you sent him what was reasonable?
 
I am sure your solicitor has a price in mind & Im surprised he hasn't given you one even though you asked.

As far as I have recently found out on the law society's web site in a leaflet entitled. “A Guide to Professional Conduct of Solicitors in Ireland” the law requires all solicitors to explain in writing how fees will be charged.

Unfortunately, I can not challenge my solicitor at present because he has presented me with the choice of agreeing to pay additional fees or change solicitor at a time when I am about to sign contracts for my new house & the contracts for the sale of my existing house have been sent out by him.

Perhaps you will have better luck & are dealing with a more reasonable solicitor.
 
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