Solicitor with holding Draw Down from Mortgage?

The bank has finally issued the final draw down for my mortgage. This final draw down is a top-up on the existing mortgage.

The solicitor originally submitted the application for the mortgage and we paid in full prior to getting the first draw down. She was then sent the top up forms, she submitted them etc. as we accepted the mortgage top-up. After a lot of effort the final draw down issued.

I went in to collect the cheque and the solicitor requested money before she would give me the cheque, as she claims the top up was additional work (which is fair enough). The probelm I have is:

1. If it were additional work why was I not informed upfront and agreed upon a price?
2. The original invoice we received was for the mortgage, this is a top-up to that mortgage and as such would it not be an extension of the work?
3. Any idea what the going rate for a top up mortgage (or a single draw down mortgage), as the price is the same as the original mortgage application. €1500 which seems excessive given the work required (or lack of, given all the chasing I had to do)
4. What are my options?

Thanks

You say that the solicitor did work in applying for a mortgage, that this was billed and paid. Then you decided to get a top up mortgage and say yourself that, after a lot of effort, the mortgage was finally drawndown. This is additional work and would be billed as such.

Your solicitor should however have spoken to you about costs and €1500 might be excessive depending on what work was involved. You seem to contradict yourself, on the one hand you say " a lot of effort" and on the other you say "work required (or lack thereof)".

Have you spoken to the solicitor to try sort this?

"a lot of effort"

by this I am refering to the work done by myself to get the final cert. This involved jumping through all the hoops the bank are currently putting people through in this climate.

"(or lack thereof)"

She wasn't exactly efficient with processing anything. Taking up to a month to get back to me regarding forms she didn't submit to the bank and there are various other issues.


I have no problem paying for additional work, provided it's agreed and conducted in a timely manner. The price she is now looking for was neither agreed, nor was the work done in a timely manner.

We have yet to discuss the issues with her, but I wanted to see exactly where I stood before I confronted her on the fees.

You should meet with your solicitor to resolve the issue. Speak to her about the fact that you were not advised it would cost €1500 to do the top up work and try to come to an agreement on a reduced price.

Hi batsman,
I am a solicitor, and while I hate to bad mouth a colleague, it sounds to me like €1500 is totally over the top. Was this top up internal - i.e. with the same bank? Did your solicitor get involved in dealing with a planning matter or compliance matters or anything similar?

Kate.

Firstly, does the €1500 include VAT and outlays? Is it the fee exclusive of those things? How much outlay apart from fees do you have to pay.

If you had to chase people for certs then this was not a simple top-up. clearly something had changed viz the property or your circumstances. €1,500 may be a reasonable fee depending on the work involved and depending on the value of the house (as mortgages are a key factor in the high cost of insurance for solicitors). If there were delays in you getting documents then that adds work for the solicitor as time is wasted chasing things with the bank when you don't have your side done.

I suggest you go in with your cheque book and try to negotiate a reduced fee. At this stage the solicitor is probably worried you don't want to pay anything. If you say you do want to pay but you want to know what you are paying for then the solicitor will likely take you through it.

@batmansDad

As a matter of interest, how much would you have been willing to pay if the solicitor had released the loan money to you and how quickly would you have paid it?