Can anyone give any advice.
I'm in the process of buying a section of land from my parents and I'm not getting anywhere.
Everything is agreed (price, size of land..) & for the past 8 months the solicitors have been involved. My solicitor has dragged his feet on this. I hadn't heard from him in 10 weeks, so I rang him & he said he had to see me urgently so I took day off work to see him, only to be told that nothing had been done in the past 10 wks as they were waiting for me to sign a form. I had actually already signed the form 2 months earlier but he hadn't noticed. Then he told me that it was all done and the only thing left was the bill & as I was holding my purse, I could pay by card now & they'll send the itemised receipt out that day. Against everything I know, I stupidly paid. That was 7 weeks ago. I have had no itemised anything sent to me & I have no idea what's happening with my land. Everytime I phone him he says that its land registrys fault.
Help. What do I do?
2007-03-12 08:48:30 · 6 answers · asked by harri_dav 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
The Law Society regulates the work of solicitors. Complaints about their work should be made to the Legal Complaints Service (LCS). However, you must complain using the solicitor's internal complaint's procedure first.
You should have got a letter when you first instructed the solicitor detailing what work he would do, an average of likely costs, and how he will keep you informed of progress. Depending to what extent and how fundamentally this was breached; will determine how much you can deduct from his bill (or ask for a refund).
The link below should tell you everything you need to know.
2007-03-13 11:25:22 · answer #1 · answered by stephen.oneill 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your solicitor sounds like an ar#e hole! Report him immediately to the Legal Service Ombudsman which is based in Manchester, but deals with complaints about all solicitors throughout England and get in contact with The Land Registry yourself.
Good luck
2007-03-12 16:55:26 · answer #2 · answered by kylie_rm13 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's the Law Society you should report the Solicitor to and mention all you have written here. You should tell the Solicitor what you are doing and keep a copy of all correspondence. His account, when received, should also be forwarded to the Law Society if, in your opinion, there is an overcharge in the time factor quoted. If there is no breakdown in the charges, insist on this so that you and the Law Society can come to a judgement.
2007-03-12 16:22:36 · answer #3 · answered by MANCHESTER UK 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like you can raise a complaint against the solicitor at the very least. There must be a solicitors ombudsman?
Phone your local land registry office and see if they've received an application etc. They must be able to tell you if anything has been received.
2007-03-12 15:52:56 · answer #4 · answered by nikki 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As per Nikki's answer above. Threaten your solicitor with the ombudsman. Contact your local land registry office yourself. Addresses and phone numbers here:
http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/
2007-03-12 16:05:16 · answer #5 · answered by Mental Mickey 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nikki's just stolen my thunder. All I would add is once you have found out if there is an ombudsman to contact, write to your solicitor and ask him the same question. If he replies there is no such body, you've got him.
2007-03-12 16:16:01 · answer #6 · answered by brainyandy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋