Future Major works paid for but property sold

[nutsonmercs]

I hope this is the right forum that I am posting in as it is a property issue, kind of.

My partner and I have just sold an ex council property. All in all it has taken about 5 months and that is with a cash buyer!

We received a preliminary statement from our solicitors the day before exchange and completion. It showed mortgage redemption, charges etc that would be deducted from the final sale price. We had a rough idea of what to expect so there were no surprises.

The next afternoon the solicitors rang and confirmed completion. Great we thought after waiting for so long. We went straight to the bank, and to our surprise, found that the amount paid to us was over £2k less than we had expected.

I wasn't up to calling the solicitors that day to find out why as the whole process of selling an ex council property had driven me near to despair. I decided to wait for the final statement from our solicitors. Waited 5 days and heard nothing.

I sent an email asking for the statement and received it this morning.

To our surprise, our solicitors have paid for Major works that are to be done later this year. I had to get in touch with the council to find this out. It was listed on the statement as ' Ground Rent Apportionment ' £2559.27.

I emailed back and asked them to explain this to me and specify exactly what it was for ( I didn't inform solicitor that I contacted the council). The reply I received was ambiguous to say the least. ' amount was advised from the council for further costs'.

I emailed straight back for them to send me a copy of what they had received from the council stating exactly what it was for.

I received an automated reply saying that the recipient was not in their office till tomorrow.

Okay now for a few questions.

Would our solicitors have been obliged to notify us of this additional charge before going ahead with E & C? It wasn't listed on the statement the day before.

If it has been paid by mistake (one of several complaints I have about their service) are they obliged to refund the amount to us immediately and deal with the council to get the money back?

Will I have to approach the buyer and ask if he will pay us back?

I spoke with our former neighbour and she has not received a bill yet for these works which are due to be started in a couple of months.

We have already taken a substantial loss on the property and I don't see how we are responsible for works that have not even been started. They were mentioned in the Management pack received from the council (in November) but no costs.

Any advise greatly appreciated.

As I said at the beginning, I'm not sure if this is posted in the right forum.

Regards, Peter.

[Shadowcat]

Re: Future Major works paid for but property sold

Who there solicitor horsey!

Firstly, write asking for clarification and just cause and proof of this just cause, as to why this money was deducted. Put 'FORMAL COMPLAINT' at the header and give 7 days for response (adequate amount of time for what should be a photocopy).

Also on this letter list the other complaints - bullet point additional items as a list.

Await a reply and escalate to the SRA, sending a copy to the Law Society.

Do not hang around, this looks on the face of it, blatant bad practice. Although, give them the chance to explain, it could be a genuine oversight on your part.

[nutsonmercs]

Re: Future Major works paid for but property sold

Following are statements that we received. The first one the day before E & C. Received 27/03/2012. The second, which I had to ask for received 03/04/2012. In addition, with the first statement we had a form from Land registry that had to be signed and the original sent back to our solicitors.

Not wanting to experience any delays with the post or even loss, we had to make a 7 hour round-trip train journey from London to the solicitor (on-line conveyancing) to be sure they received it and that there were not going to be any last minute hiccups. There was no mention then of the additional costs.

We were at the solicitors just before closing so can only assume that they had not had any notification from the council though that may not be the case.

The next day we were(did) to exchange and complete.

I don't think it is unreasonable to expect to be informed of these costs before exchange as we would have insisted that the buyer was to pay them.

As I have already mentioned, my next door neighbour has not received an invoice yet and the works have not even been started.

Why were the costs listed as 'Ground Rent Apportionment ' Did they realise they had made a mistake and hoped we would not question it?

Thanks for your quick reply Shadowcat.

I'll wait for their reply and take it from there.

I'll post what the outcome is. It may help others.

Regards, Peter.

Just noticed in the preview that the statements have gone a bit lopsided. Hope you can still make them out.:tinysmile_hmm_t2:





First statement

Sale Price 142000.00

Solicitors Costs (inc VAT) 424.80

Bank Transmission Fee(s) (incl VAT) 93.60

Estate Agents Commission (Inc VAT) payable to
0.00

Amount to Redeem Mortgage(s)* 16772.54

Funds received on account of Costs 18.00

Official Copies 40.00

Service Charge Apportionment Paid 1380.21

To carry out anti laundering check 6.00

Major works account balance 271.61

Major Works account balance for Lift Phase 2084.69

Retention 500.00

Major Works account balance for Door entry 17.53


Amount due to you at completion 120427.02
142018.00 142018.00




Second statement


Sale Price 142000.00
Ground Rent Apportionment Paid 2559.27
Service Charge Apportionment Paid 1097.90
Major works account balance 271.61
Major Works account balance for Lift Phase 2084.69
Major Works account balance for Door entry 17.53
Retention 500.00

Solicitors Costs per attached account (inc VAT) 424.80
Bank Transmission Fee(s) (incl VAT) 93.60

Amount to Redeem Mortgage(s)* 16766.34

Funds received on account of Costs 18.00

Official Copies 40.00

To carry out anti laundering check 6.00

Amount due to you at completion 118156.26

142018.00 142018.00

[Shadowcat]

Re: Future Major works paid for but property sold

Ask for copy of the Ground Rent Appointment agreement into the bargain. Put this point under the microscope.

You tell them you do not understand this charge and to clarify both in their words and any supporting documentation. If they fail to supply within the 7 days I'd go straight for requesting a refund of that amount. It fast forwards the issue and tells them in no uncertain terms, what you want the outcome to be.

Good luck and let us know.

[bluebottle]

Re: Future Major works paid for but property sold

The solicitor should have uncovered this during the searches stage and is going to have some explaining to do - and fast. You should certainly report this to the SRA and ask them to investigate.