Tweet
Hi, I'm currently trying to move house and have run into a fair major problem. I would appreciate any advice this forum can offer!
We had very recently agreed the sale of our house, as well as the purchase of a new one. The chain was all locked in, only three properties involved, nice and simple.
The issue we've come up aganst in the last couple of days is due to our seller being a Russian national. I must stress that he is very much NOT an 'oligarch', he is an elderly University lecturer who has lived in the UK with his wife for many years. However, two days ago we were informed by his agent that his solicitor has now declined to represent him due to his nationality. Their decision is driven by the recent guidance issued by The Law Society and the SRA in relation to representing Russian nationals. Apparently if a solicitor was to represent a client, even unwittingly, who was on the sanctions list then they would be subject to criminal prosecution. Our seller has tried several other solicitors and they all say the same thing - they are not prepared to take the risk, however low that risk might be.
He had proposed proceeding on the basis of representing himself, however our solicitor has said that such an arrangement would place extra responsibility on her and would effectively mean taking on the risk referred to above, and therefore she is not willing to proceed on that basis.
As of now the purchase is effectively dead as we cannot proceed with legal representation on either side. This feels very much like an unintended consequence of the sanctions legisliation and the associated guidance from The Law Society and the SRA. Surely it was meant to target the corrupt and super-wealthy, not ordinary Russians who happen to legitimitely own UK property?
Is there anything I can do to resurrect this purchase, or do I need to accept that it's a non-starter??
We had very recently agreed the sale of our house, as well as the purchase of a new one. The chain was all locked in, only three properties involved, nice and simple.
The issue we've come up aganst in the last couple of days is due to our seller being a Russian national. I must stress that he is very much NOT an 'oligarch', he is an elderly University lecturer who has lived in the UK with his wife for many years. However, two days ago we were informed by his agent that his solicitor has now declined to represent him due to his nationality. Their decision is driven by the recent guidance issued by The Law Society and the SRA in relation to representing Russian nationals. Apparently if a solicitor was to represent a client, even unwittingly, who was on the sanctions list then they would be subject to criminal prosecution. Our seller has tried several other solicitors and they all say the same thing - they are not prepared to take the risk, however low that risk might be.
He had proposed proceeding on the basis of representing himself, however our solicitor has said that such an arrangement would place extra responsibility on her and would effectively mean taking on the risk referred to above, and therefore she is not willing to proceed on that basis.
As of now the purchase is effectively dead as we cannot proceed with legal representation on either side. This feels very much like an unintended consequence of the sanctions legisliation and the associated guidance from The Law Society and the SRA. Surely it was meant to target the corrupt and super-wealthy, not ordinary Russians who happen to legitimitely own UK property?
Is there anything I can do to resurrect this purchase, or do I need to accept that it's a non-starter??
Comment