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I just wondered if anyone has any experience in relation to a house sale that's fallen through and abortive fees, as I feel my solicitor wasn’t honest from the start, and I’m uncertain if the amount I’ve been charged is considered fair.
To cut a long story short, I placed a mortgage free, freehold property on the market and accepted an offer from a cash buyer (no chain), however I had reservations about the buyer as I suspected they may pull out.
Having received the costs from the solicitor (£1700, with £600 up front), I first spoke to them on the phone and explained my reservations about the buyer and asked if any work they had completed could be carried forward if I used them for a future sale, or if I would basically lose the £600. I was assured that any work completed could be carried forward especially at an early stage, so feeling reassured that I wouldn’t lose the money, I signed up with them.
However, as suspected the buyer withdrew their offer. This was at an early stage (pre-survey), and at this point my file had been opened, ID check etc completed, I had completed the property information forms and draft contract paperwork was issued. No enquires had been made by the buyers solicitor, and I had not contacted them with any questions. In terms of contact from them, all I received was a couple of generic emails letting me know that they had received my forms and that they had sent draft contract paperwork to the buyers solicitor.
I then received the abortive invoice, which came to £570, £540 related to legal fees and £30 disbursement fees.
I emailed the solicitor to confirm that any work completed to date could be carried forward as discussed on the phone, but was told that only the disbursements were transferable, and I would need to pay a further £1620 for a future sale. I’ve questioned this given the conversation I had before signing up with them but have had no reply, just to clarify of the £1700 costs, £1620 covered their legal fees, and they’ve charged me £540 for non-transferable legal work/time which is a third.
This seems rather steep to me, granted I don’t have much experience in this field, but when this happened on another property a few years back, we weren’t charged anything extra as we continued to use the solicitor for the next sale and they informed us that they wouldn’t need to repeat any of the work completed to date.
To be clear, I suspected there may be a small fee as I certainly didn’t expect them to work for nothing, plus their client care letter does state that disbursement fees have to be paid and that they have the OPTION to charge for time /work completed, stating that this will be a minimum of £330, but given what I was told via the phone I assumed this only referred to people who didn’t proceed with them for a future sale.
I guess what I’m asking is, am I being unreasonable and should just let this go, as it's a reasonable amount to pay for work that can't be carried forward? Although I still feel they should have been more honest during our call given I asked if I would lose the £600, and despite being told I wouldn’t, I have lost the majority of it!
Thank you
To cut a long story short, I placed a mortgage free, freehold property on the market and accepted an offer from a cash buyer (no chain), however I had reservations about the buyer as I suspected they may pull out.
Having received the costs from the solicitor (£1700, with £600 up front), I first spoke to them on the phone and explained my reservations about the buyer and asked if any work they had completed could be carried forward if I used them for a future sale, or if I would basically lose the £600. I was assured that any work completed could be carried forward especially at an early stage, so feeling reassured that I wouldn’t lose the money, I signed up with them.
However, as suspected the buyer withdrew their offer. This was at an early stage (pre-survey), and at this point my file had been opened, ID check etc completed, I had completed the property information forms and draft contract paperwork was issued. No enquires had been made by the buyers solicitor, and I had not contacted them with any questions. In terms of contact from them, all I received was a couple of generic emails letting me know that they had received my forms and that they had sent draft contract paperwork to the buyers solicitor.
I then received the abortive invoice, which came to £570, £540 related to legal fees and £30 disbursement fees.
I emailed the solicitor to confirm that any work completed to date could be carried forward as discussed on the phone, but was told that only the disbursements were transferable, and I would need to pay a further £1620 for a future sale. I’ve questioned this given the conversation I had before signing up with them but have had no reply, just to clarify of the £1700 costs, £1620 covered their legal fees, and they’ve charged me £540 for non-transferable legal work/time which is a third.
This seems rather steep to me, granted I don’t have much experience in this field, but when this happened on another property a few years back, we weren’t charged anything extra as we continued to use the solicitor for the next sale and they informed us that they wouldn’t need to repeat any of the work completed to date.
To be clear, I suspected there may be a small fee as I certainly didn’t expect them to work for nothing, plus their client care letter does state that disbursement fees have to be paid and that they have the OPTION to charge for time /work completed, stating that this will be a minimum of £330, but given what I was told via the phone I assumed this only referred to people who didn’t proceed with them for a future sale.
I guess what I’m asking is, am I being unreasonable and should just let this go, as it's a reasonable amount to pay for work that can't be carried forward? Although I still feel they should have been more honest during our call given I asked if I would lose the £600, and despite being told I wouldn’t, I have lost the majority of it!
Thank you
