Sold property, when do we get paid?

CamperMan

Hi,

we sold some property, contracts signed, exchanged, title deeds signed, all paperwork done, completion date has past... when does the seller of the property get paid out??

I thought it was on the completion date?

3DataModem

Your solicitor has your money.

CamperMan

3DataModem wrote: »

Your solicitor has your money.

despite several emails, and even a meeting in the office with the solicitor, we have had no mention of when we will get the money, even though we have asked.. it is getting frustrating now sitting about waiting.

Oryx

3DataModem wrote: »

Your solicitor has your money.

..and will delay it as much as possible. I sold a house once just before Christmas. Solicitor was able to pay the bank the o/s amount due to them within 24 hours, but it took 3 weeks for me to get the balance, in January. :rolleyes:

godtabh

sitting in his account earning interest

PeakOutput

Oryx wrote: »

..and will delay it as much as possible. I sold a house once just before Christmas. Solicitor was able to pay the bank the o/s amount due to them within 24 hours, but it took 3 weeks for me to get the balance, in January. :rolleyes:

it can be a nice little interest earner for the solicitor sitting in their account

CamperMan

godtabh wrote: »

sitting in his account earning interest

I guessed that, our problem is we are leaving Ireland next month (4 weeks time) and want the money way before then so we can sort things out, is there anyway to force payment?

Shelflife

Tell your solicitor that you want your money transferred to your account by tues of next week or else he will be reported to the law society.

be polite but firm and insist that the money be transferred immediately.

Jumpy

Does the interest not also belong to the seller?

Shelflife

I believe it does jumpy.

CamperMan

Shelflife wrote: »

Tell your solicitor that you want your money transferred to your account by tues of next week or else he will be reported to the law society.

be polite but firm and insist that the money be transferred immediately.

Thanks,

already did that, gave him the bank details on where to lodge the money to, still I get nothing concrete.

ejmaztec

I understood that if the money goes into a designated deposit account, the client gets the interest, but if it goes into the solicitor's general deposit account, he gets the benefit.

Of course, this should be decided at the outset, I believe.:(

Sponge Bob

ejmaztec wrote: »

I understood that if the money goes into a designated deposit account, the client gets the interest, but if it goes into the solicitor's general deposit account, he gets the benefit.

Of course, this should be decided at the outset, I believe.:(

I am sure that the OP will clearly remember being told it was to go into the interest bearing account not the general office account when they contact the Law Society on Tuesday

dudara

Moved to Accomodation & Property

dudara

ejmaztec

Sponge Bob wrote: »

I am sure that the OP will clearly remember being told it was to go into the interest bearing account not the general office account when they contact the Law Society on Tuesday

Some things in life are dead certs.:P

John Mason

the money goes into a seperate general account, the solicitor cannot keep the interest,

the money needs to be paid over within 21 days

if this does not happen - contact the law society straight away

CamperMan

and were still waiting....

solicitor says he's waiting for the cheque to clear from the purchasers solicitor.....

I am getting really fecking angry with this delay

CamperMan

Shelflife wrote: »

Tell your solicitor that you want your money transferred to your account by tues of next week or else he will be reported to the law society.

be polite but firm and insist that the money be transferred immediately.

I did that, and yet still no money from the solicitor, it is causing us plenty of stress.

will a threat to complain to the Law Society do anything?

Oryx

CamperMan wrote: »

I did that, and yet still no money from the solicitor, it is causing us plenty of stress.

will a threat to complain to the Law Society do anything?

I wouldnt even threaten, Id go ahead and complain.

iguana

CamperMan wrote: »

solicitor says he's waiting for the cheque to clear from the purchasers solicitor.....

Surely if the cheque from the purchaser didn't clear the sale shouldn't have completed?

Zamboni

Law Society Monday morning.


Slightly OT, but can you request a bank draft from the purchaser and avoid having funds transferred via a solicitor?

CamperMan

iguana wrote: »

Surely if the cheque from the purchaser didn't clear the sale shouldn't have completed?

that is exactly what I told the solicitor, the purchaser now has full title and is now using the property and has been for a full week.

I explained that title should not have been transferred until he had cleared funds.

iguana

I just highly doubt that anyone was using cheques. Property purchases tend to be done through same day bank transfers. I've only bought and sold in the UK but everything was through same day bank transfers.

The day we sold was the day the money landed in our account. The money from the purchasers was in their solicitors account the day before completion. On the day of completion their solicitor sent it to ours and they got it at about 12pm and the deeds were transferred over and the EA instructed to hand over the keys. Our solicitor then redeemed our mortgage, paid the EA and took their own fees. The remainder, about half, was then transferred in to our account and was available to us by about 3.30pm. And within a couple of weeks they sent us a cheque for the interest accrued on the deposit they had held for 4 weeks between exchange and completion.

Jo King

iguana wrote: »

I just highly doubt that anyone was using cheques. Property purchases tend to be done through same day bank transfers. I've only bought and sold in the UK but everything was through same day bank transfers.

This is not the UK. Even when it was, about 90 years ago, there was a different system of conveyancing. It is not unusual for solicitors cheques to be accepted at closing. It is possible to insist on a bank draft before closing, but that can have it's drawbacks. The banks are now taking 5 working days to clear cheques. What is now happening is that the lender issues a cheque to the solicitor. It is lodged but can't be drawn against on it till it clears. In the interests of getting the closing through, the solicitor closes the deal with the proviso that the solicitors cheque is held back until the lenders cheque has cleared. The result can be a two week delay before the solicitors cheque finally clears.

iguana

Jo King wrote: »

This is not the UK. Even when it was, about 90 years ago, there was a different system of conveyancing. It is not unusual for solicitors cheques to be accepted at closing. It is possible to insist on a bank draft before closing, but that can have it's drawbacks. The banks are now taking 5 working days to clear cheques. What is now happening is that the lender issues a cheque to the solicitor. It is lodged but can't be drawn against on it till it clears. In the interests of getting the closing through, the solicitor closes the deal with the proviso that the solicitors cheque is held back until the lenders cheque has cleared. The result can be a two week delay before the solicitors cheque finally clears.

Why don't they move to same day transfers? Handing over the deeds and keys to the property in advance of actually having the money in your/your solicitors account is ridiculously risky. In the UK you are warned not to even allow your buyer access to the property, until your solicitor verifies the money is in their account, no matter how reasonable their request might be.

Jo King

[QUOTE=iguana;69130592 Handing over the deeds and keys to the property in advance of actually having the money in your/your solicitors account is ridiculously risky. [/QUOTE]

It is not ridiculously risky. There is a solicitors client account cheque for the money. It is most unlikely to bounce. Even if it bounced, the client would be compensated.
At the moment, it is difficult to get sale to close at all. Kicking up a big fuss about the means of payment is not the smartest thing to do. I have seen sales collapse when the vendor insisted on a bank draft.
There are often disbursements to be made on receipt of the money. A mortgage may have to be redeemed, there may be outstanding water charges or other taxes. All of this has to be dealt with after the closing.

iguana

Jo King wrote: »

There are often disbursements to be made on receipt of the money. A mortgage may have to be redeemed, there may be outstanding water charges or other taxes. All of this has to be dealt with after the closing.

Yes, all of that must be dealt with in other countries too, yet they manage to do it. That is what the solicitor is paid for.

And there are plenty of close to insolvent solicitors about the place at the moment, especially those who's livelihood is linked to the property market like conveyancers, so yes, accepting an uncleared cheque is most certainly ridiculously risky. The system as a whole needs to move into the 21st century, just like the rest of the world did.

Jo King

iguana wrote: »

Yes, all of that must be dealt with in other countries too, yet they manage to do it. That is what the solicitor is paid for.

And there are plenty of close to insolvent solicitors about the place at the moment, especially those who's livelihood is linked to the property market like conveyancers, so yes, accepting an uncleared cheque is most certainly ridiculously risky. The system as a whole needs to move into the 21st century, just like the rest of the world did.

If a solicitor commits fraud by issuing a bad cheque, the Law Society compensation fund will have to stump up. The solicitor would also lose the right to practice. It is not risky taking a solicitors cheque on closing particularly if the alternative is delay or no sale at all.
There is a plan to move to electronic conveyancing. Meantime we are stuck with the current system. The current system was imposed on the country by the British who did not see fit to impose it on themselves. As such it is a mess and will take years to put in good order.