Solicitors blamed for delays in conveyancing process

'Solicitors' is now a generic term that is used to cover those who carry out the legal side of the conveyancing process.

Ironically, the firms who carry out the most conveyancing are the factory, conveyor belt, 'sell em and service them cheaply' outfits, where there may be next to no solicitors carrying out the process, probably none, nor individuals particularly experienced in conveyancing. Scary thought.

So many members of the public think they have a solicitor acting for them ("hey my solicitor did this for me" or "my solicitor told me that..."), but compare two neighbours and one will have been the smart one and secured an actual solicitor for the same fee the other neighbour pays for a junior clerk, maybe because they ended up being 'cheaper'.

Go cheap, get cheap (you already have another blog on the subject with unanimous support for that statement).

The conveyancer - which is the better term to use - often get it in the neck unfairly, and we readily accept that, as so often clients tell us 'I need more time, go slow'. And we are stuck. We cannot tell the real reason to the other side, or to the Agents, as that is a confidential communication. But we readily agree to it.

Don't forget, conveyancers don't get paid until we have secured the exchange (where clients cannot back out) and it is therefore in every conveyancer’s best interest to get there as quickly as possible.

But ask yourself, is it speed you want, or accuracy?

There is a legal process involved after all, and remember, only the conveyancer – yes no one else in the whole process - offers no exclusions to their liability (Agents use the Misdescriptions Act to – and in my mind quite fairly and properly - cover their Particulars for any errors, and Surveyors refer you to third parties for other checks and lawyers for things the surveyors should be doing). So naturally, the conveyancer is not going to want to make mistakes by rushing.

Yes, there are slow conveyancers and I mention some reasons for that in a moment, but there are speedy ones too. Too speedy and they are often the ones who do not know what to look for, who think it will be alright to gloss over, or are just unable to spot where there is an issue, and bang…up goes everyone’s PII cover because they mess up…thanks guys…we all know which firms they are!

Where the conveyancer typically slows the process down is by doing the following:
1. When selling, they have the belief that all they do is throw out the papers to the Buyer,
and so they fail to read through them first with the following results:
a. They fail to ensure the Buyer’s conveyancer receives the HIP
b. The HIP has unspotted errors in because the Seller did not have it prepared by a
solicitor’s office (best place)
c. The Seller relies on the registered title in the HIP which may be months old, which is
not acceptable to the Buyer (because it is not up to date) and so days are lost in
getting fresh requested
d. Registered title is sent, but so many conveyancers forget to send the independent
documents referred in the title. That is happening more and more.
e. Planning permissions for works certainly in the last 4 years, and ideally in the last 20, if
not a complete set, are not produced, so the Buyer has to chase
f. New Home Warranty documents are not sent
g. The CML required management information is not sent out on a sale of a lease, until
requested, losing weeks potentially
h. Out of date Protocol Forms are sent, meaning supplemental questions have to be
asked to get them as comprehensive as the latest edition
i. Not sending out planning permissions that have conditions – they are always
potentially live
j. Not reading the Sellers Property Information Form which refers to guarantees, or
building works or UPVC or electrical works – so the Buyer has to then chase for this
information
k. Having too many contractual ‘special conditions’ some of which can be controversial,
like seeking a refund of searches, or not warranting the accuracy of plans or having
clause after clause of what penalties the Buyer should pay if they fail to complete
l. Conveyancers blaming the other side when they know it is them who are at fault.

2. When Buying, the following can occur:
a. Buyers conveyancers amending the contract for the sake of it.
b. Asking the Seller to pay for Chancel Indemnity insurance. It’s totally for the benefit of
the Buyer, and it is only a postcode search after all. It is not saying there is liability.
c. Sending pro-forma enquiries, often even before the Seller has sent out their own
Protocol forms. That is disrespectful as the Seller is taking time to do their own forms,
and often the pro-forma ones duplicate. Or sending out pro-forma ones after they have
the Protocol ones, and again they duplicate.
d. Not reading the Protocol Forms properly and asking duplicate questions
e. Again, conveyancers blaming the other side when they know it is them who are at fault.

What are the solutions?

Well for a Buyer or Seller – simply raise your own standards of who you choose to have carry out the conveyancing. If you go cheap, then certain outfits will by their very busy nature (because they do such large numbers of deals at rock bottom prices) will drag down standards, and the reputation of the legal profession.

Use a firm of solicitors is my advice. They themselves have been trained for years in a whole area of subjects, they have experts around them in other areas, in case it is needed.

Refer to an independent estate agent for recommendations of which law firm. But if you are referred to another part of the Country, you have to ask yourself why. It’s not usually a good recommendation, and you may be headed straight for a bulk conveyor belt servicing company.

The conveyancing Team in one building should also not be too large, and you should have one conveyancer (either solicitor, legal executive, licensed conveyancer or someone senior who is well respected) acting for you. You should also ensure:

• You get a direct dial phone number
• You get a personal email address
• That the Firm does not close at lunch or at 5pm sharp
• That the firm’s telephone number is not also it’s fax number!

HIPs. They are a good litmus test. If you plan to use your HIP provider, check the quality of presented HIP, promptness of preparation etc. If they can get that right, then that boads well for future work.

Longer term for the conveyancing process?

There is a lot of talk about electronic conveyancing, but this is surely the wrong focus when in fact the Law Society should regulate those who can actually carry out conveyancing. Give kite marks to those who demonstrate a certain standard, like Lexcel.

After all, conveyancing is a legal process and the quality of those who carry it out can unfairly hurt the reputation of solicitors who do a good job. If it is legal and it ends up badly performed, then of course a magazine may well end up blaming ‘solicitors’.