Complaining about my solicitor

JOJOC

Hi
Im wondering if someone can give me some advice.
Basically I am purchasing a property from county council and my solicitor is telling me there are a few queries that he is not happy to close until they are sorted out which is fair enough.
I must also add that we have been trying to get this property for over 2 years now.
My problem is he has sent the contracts back the CC 3 times now and they have sent them back to him with none of the queries answered - as you can imagine this is very frustrating and I need it sorted.
My solicitor doesnt seem to care that they have gone back 3 times and they have not been sorted yet - he keeps telling me we just have to wait.
Is there someone or somewhere that I can lodge a complaint about him and indeed the CC's solicitor.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I dont know what else to do.

Thanks

babyguinnessfan

Hi,

I am not a solicitor but have worked for many. In my experience, 'files' i.e. clients such as yourself have a tendency to be looked at in a cycle, only prioritised if they are urgent e.g. litigation matters. It may be that your solicitor is under a lot of pressure and can only deal with your file from time to time, hence the delay. However, I would say that if you have a complaint about a solicitor the only place to take it is to the Law Society. In saying that, it would be useful maybe to keep in mind that perhaps the problems your solicitor is encountering are beyond his/her control. Maybe bring the issue of complaining about the CC solicitor up with your own solicitor? I would imagine the thought of having someone complain about your counterpart may spur someone on to action?! They are a pretty tight-knit clique in general.

Keep the pressure on though...I always found that the more persistent (dare I say annoying?!) the client, the faster things got done.

Best of luck.

dats_right

By the sounds of it, you should be thanking your solicitor not complaining about him. Yes, you want to move into your house asap, that is understandable but your solicitor is paid to protect your interests and that is what he is doing. He has to ensure that all the legalities are in order and that you acquire what is known as 'good marketable title', if he feels for whatever reason he can't do this or that your interests are not being protected, it would constitute misconduct and negligence if he allowed you to complete the purchase.

Your gripe is with the County Council. They are the ones who won't answer your solicitor's queries! Short of physically putting a gun to their head, I don't see what more he can do. Afterall, he has raised the question with them 3 times. Anyway, you should be taking matters up with them or your local elected representatives to progress matters.

Have you thought about the consequences of just going ahead with the purchase or what happens when you go to sell the property? Don't you think that the very same reason that is bothering your solicitor will equally bother prospective purchaser's solicitors also? Which could well mean that you have a property that you can't sell, who then will you blame? Yep, the very same solictor. Although then you will go crying to the Law Society that you never would have bought the property if you knew there was a problem and it's all you solicitors fault!

JOJOC

Yes I appreciate that he is only protecting my interests but if he has sent back contracts on 3 separate occassions and they havent answered them why does he think that by sending them back a 4th time that its going to be sorted ?
It seems to me that he is not even ringing them or asking questions as to why the queries havent been answered.

ronnie3585

dats_right wrote: »

By the sounds of it, you should be thanking your solicitor not complaining about him. Yes, you want to move into your house asap, that is understandable but your solicitor is paid to protect your interests and that is what he is doing. He has to ensure that all the legalities are in order and that you acquire what is known as 'good marketable title', if he feels for whatever reason he can't do this or that your interests are not being protected, it would constitute misconduct and negligence if he allowed you to complete the purchase.

Your gripe is with the County Council. They are the ones who won't answer your solicitor's queries! Short of physically putting a gun to their head, I don't see what more he can do. Afterall, he has raised the question with them 3 times. Anyway, you should be taking matters up with them or your local elected representatives to progress matters.

Have you thought about the consequences of just going ahead with the purchase or what happens when you go to sell the property? Don't you think that the very same reason that is bothering your solicitor will equally bother prospective purchaser's solicitors also? Which could well mean that you have a property that you can't sell, who then will you blame? Yep, the very same solictor. Although then you will go crying to the Law Society that you never would have bought the property if you knew there was a problem and it's all you solicitors fault!

I would agree with the above poster 100%. I'm a trainee so I'm obviously prejudiced but it appears that your complaint is against the CC and not hte solicitor in quesion. The fact that he has sent back the contracts three times shows that he is not satisfied with the replies to his queries, if any. Would you prefer your solicitor to accept the contract with possibly restrictive conditions or worse? He is acting in your interests, these things take time and even more so when on is dealing with civil servants.

JOJOC

Thanks Ronnie3585 for replying. Can I ask u a question my solicitor has informed me that no where in the contracts does it state that the land on which the developer built belonged to the developer - if this is the case have the council effectively bought a property that they can not sell?
Also if it does not state in the contracts that the apt block is covered by the management company - how long should this take to sort out?

If you could answer either of the above questions i would be very grateful!
Thanks

ronnie3585

JOJOC wrote: »

my solicitor has informed me that no where in the contracts does it state that the land on which the developer built belonged to the developer - if this is the case have the council effectively bought a property that they can not sell?

Firstly, I should qualify the following by saying that I spend 99% of my time dealing with litigation and not conveyancing, however some general points can be made. It could be the case that the lands the apts were build on were owned by the Council in the first instance? Generally speaking, there needs to be good root of title before any property will be bought or sold, the land has to be owned by someone, and this title should be furnished to and investigated by a purchaser's solicitors. It may be the case that your solicitor has not yet received the title to the property.

Also if it does not state in the contracts that the apt block is covered by the management company - how long should this take to sort out?

Again, as I'm not entirely familiar with conveyancing I'm not sure if the Management Company should be dealt with in the contract in one of the Schedules or as a Special Condition. If it is not in the contract it would be advisable to ask your solicitor about this and try to get it sorted as sooner rather than later.

I am open to correction by someone more expert in the area:)

Maximilian

It amazes me how quick some people are to judge their solicitor incompetent based on a set of facts they obviously don't understand. OP, you should know that reporting a solicitor to the Law Society is an extremely serious action.

From what you've said, your solicitor is simply protecting your interests. Its quite likely the "fault" lies with neither solicitor and with the County Council itself.

Leaving all that aside however, what really annoys me is that you would seemingly sooner report your solicitor to the Law Society than call him/her up and ask for an explanation as to the delay. You would sooner ask the anonymous opinions of strangers here than ask your solicitor. Incredible.

JOJOC

I have been asking him actually and he keeps fobbing me off - and it now transpires that the land on which the property has been built does not belong to either the council or the developer, it actually belongs to a third party that knows nothing about the apartments being built on his land. I am very thankful that he has discovered it now rather than later when i go to sell the property and realise I cant.

The reason I came on here and was asking for advice was because I dont know where else to turn - as you can imagine this is all very frustrating not to mention upsetting.

Maximilian
I seem to have upset you with my comments so can u answer me a question what would you do in my case, considering I have been waiting over 2 years on this property after a 1st property falling through????

Maximilian

I appreciate you must be highly frustrated by all of this but it sounds to me there is nothing really either you or your solicitor could do. You've just been very unlucky.

I don't know what I would do in your situation, probably would have cut my losses and looked to buy elsewhere.

dats_right

OP, your frustrations are understandable and I do sympathise with your predicament. Nonetheless, whatever heartache or disappointment you feel now would have been nothing to what you would have felt if your solicitor hadn't done his job and had allowed you to purchase the property.

It mightn't feel like it, but you are actually quite lucky. Some firms now, particularly many of the ones offering bargain basement prices, have unqualified staff dealing with conveyancing files, who whilst proficient in processing and clerical matters might not have picked up a problem with title such as this.

Hopefully, all is not lost and the difficulties can be overcome. One thing is for sure and you definitely won't want to hear this, but if the transaction is proceeding you will be facing even longer delays.

JOJOC

Thanks for the replies

Im happy to say that i went to see my solicitor yesterday and he outlined what the problem is - i think im just going to cut my losses and look elsewhere!

Maximilian

Happy hunting. At least the wait will probably end up saving you money. There's good value to be had at the moment.

Mucria

dats_right wrote: »

By the sounds of it, you should be thanking your solicitor not complaining about him. Yes, you want to move into your house asap, that is understandable but your solicitor is paid to protect your interests and that is what he is doing. He has to ensure that all the legalities are in order and that you acquire what is known as 'good marketable title', if he feels for whatever reason he can't do this or that your interests are not being protected, it would constitute misconduct and negligence if he allowed you to complete the purchase.

Your gripe is with the County Council. They are the ones who won't answer your solicitor's queries! Short of physically putting a gun to their head, I don't see what more he can do. Afterall, he has raised the question with them 3 times. Anyway, you should be taking matters up with them or your local elected representatives to progress matters.

Have you thought about the consequences of just going ahead with the purchase or what happens when you go to sell the property? Don't you think that the very same reason that is bothering your solicitor will equally bother prospective purchaser's solicitors also? Which could well mean that you have a property that you can't sell, who then will you blame? Yep, the very same solictor. Although then you will go crying to the Law Society that you never would have bought the property if you knew there was a problem and it's all you solicitors fault!

com'on...3 years!! I would have wrote to the Law society to complain about the solicitor services long ago...beside if there is such a delay sue the council...guess a deposit have been given?!?! Let's see what could be claimed about...damages for breach of contract if there was a date on the signed purchase contract...so interest...emotional whatever... expenses such as rent whilst waiting for the appart ...write to the law department of the council and state your intention to sue for damages

ronnie3585

Holy...thread...resurrection...Batman...

...

Mucria

truth is ... I just sent a letter to complain for a similar situation with solicitor and sssssooooooooooon county council! me pesty

ronnie3585

Mucria wrote: »

truth is ... I just sent a letter to complain for a similar situation with solicitor and sssssooooooooooon county council! me pesty

What?

Once again in English please.