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Hi everyone, I hope you're all doing well.
I'm really desperate for help and I'm hoping somebody can give me some advice. Basically I own a leasehold flat and began the lease extension process through a local solicitor. Things were going ok until I received my completion statement and paid the full bill for my work. (circa £12,000) My solicitor then completely stopped giving me updates and I registered a complaint to them. Communication began again after the complaint, as the law around leaseholds was changing and now the landlord wanted an extra £1000. I was told I could either pay or serve a formal notice (I don't believe I was told prior to this we were going the informal route) but I paid the £1000 as it would likely be cheaper than serving a notice. Communication then dried up again and I was told that I'd be contacted as soon as my solicitor heard anything from the landlord. That was six months ago, and I don't think I'm going to be contacted again.
I've since read that this happens fairly frequently, where landlords will strike a deal over an informal lease extension and then just keep the money without delivering. I'm now £13,000 in the hole with nothing to show for it, so I'm hoping people could give me some advice and/or answer some questions :
1) If I decide to pull the plug on this, is there any legal obligation on the side of the landlord to give me my money back sans any costs listed as exempt? If so, is there a timeframe? eg one month after I request it?
2) Do I have a potential complaint against my solicitor for not telling me we were going down the informal route for the lease extension? If they outlined this as a risk, there was no way I would've taken it.
3)If I decide to serve a formal notice, will the money I've given them already count towards the requested total? I feel I know the answer to this, I imagine they'd serve a fresh bill and then be difficult about giving me the original total back but I thought I'd ask anyway.
4) If I cancel the work and ask for my money back, can my solicitor charge me extra for the retrieval?
5) Is there anything on earth I can do to twist the arm of the landlord? eg I paid their legal costs, so can I complain that they aren't working in a timely manner the way I could with my own solicitors?
I know I need to register a complaint and look at the ombudsman, etc but I'm just trying to get some more information about routes to take the complaint. I'm completely in the dark and feel so stupid and stressed.
Thanks for any help!
I'm really desperate for help and I'm hoping somebody can give me some advice. Basically I own a leasehold flat and began the lease extension process through a local solicitor. Things were going ok until I received my completion statement and paid the full bill for my work. (circa £12,000) My solicitor then completely stopped giving me updates and I registered a complaint to them. Communication began again after the complaint, as the law around leaseholds was changing and now the landlord wanted an extra £1000. I was told I could either pay or serve a formal notice (I don't believe I was told prior to this we were going the informal route) but I paid the £1000 as it would likely be cheaper than serving a notice. Communication then dried up again and I was told that I'd be contacted as soon as my solicitor heard anything from the landlord. That was six months ago, and I don't think I'm going to be contacted again.
I've since read that this happens fairly frequently, where landlords will strike a deal over an informal lease extension and then just keep the money without delivering. I'm now £13,000 in the hole with nothing to show for it, so I'm hoping people could give me some advice and/or answer some questions :
1) If I decide to pull the plug on this, is there any legal obligation on the side of the landlord to give me my money back sans any costs listed as exempt? If so, is there a timeframe? eg one month after I request it?
2) Do I have a potential complaint against my solicitor for not telling me we were going down the informal route for the lease extension? If they outlined this as a risk, there was no way I would've taken it.
3)If I decide to serve a formal notice, will the money I've given them already count towards the requested total? I feel I know the answer to this, I imagine they'd serve a fresh bill and then be difficult about giving me the original total back but I thought I'd ask anyway.
4) If I cancel the work and ask for my money back, can my solicitor charge me extra for the retrieval?
5) Is there anything on earth I can do to twist the arm of the landlord? eg I paid their legal costs, so can I complain that they aren't working in a timely manner the way I could with my own solicitors?
I know I need to register a complaint and look at the ombudsman, etc but I'm just trying to get some more information about routes to take the complaint. I'm completely in the dark and feel so stupid and stressed.
Thanks for any help!
