We sold our house and bought a new one 3 years ago and used my family solicitor based down the country in an effort to keep down costs. We had also used the same solicitor when we bought our first house 5 years beforehand. At the time, we asked for a quote and he wouldn't give us one, saying he'd send us a bill after but not to worry, he wouldn't overcharge us. Fair enough, a bill for 1000 euro came a few years later which we paid and were satisfied.
This time round, a similar situation arose, we asked for a quote on several occasions, again he insisted he didn't have time to do a quote, would send the bill later and for us not to worry, he "would see us right". We proceeded with the transactions, which as usual, were very difficult as this particular solicitor is very inefficient so it took 100s of phone calls & chasing and we still ended up homeless for a weekend wherein he didn't transfer the money for our new house on time on the Friday so we couldn't move in, yet, our old house was sold - I'm not an expert on this area, but with electronic funds transfer etc. I would expect that both transactions could be done on the same day and we're the first people I've heard of who were left homeless (had to move all our stuff into a friends house). Anyway, in his usual efficiency, we got a bill 2.5 years later for 8000 euro - 4000 for each transaction.
This was way more than we expected, do we have any comeback since no price was agreed initially, yet at the same time, we did agree that it would be a reasonable price which I don't consider this to be. I checked with revenue and know that he kept our stamp duty in his account for the 2.5 years and only paid a nominal amount within the first 28 days as required by revenue to avoid a fine, the stamp duty was then paid just before he sent us our bill. If he had that money in a deposit account, he would've made several thousand in interest as well as the 8000 professional fees. We had given him 4000 initially which he had said himself should cover everything but that he'd work out the total later, we were actually waiting for a refund rather than a bill for a further 4000.
Personally I think 4000 is more than enough and we shouldn't pay him anymore. A friend of mine used a Dublin based solicitor for her move this year and paid 1900 per transaction. I know law is on his side so to speak so we're in a very weak position, what are our rights here do you think?
Thanks
This time round, a similar situation arose, we asked for a quote on several occasions, again he insisted he didn't have time to do a quote, would send the bill later and for us not to worry, he "would see us right". We proceeded with the transactions, which as usual, were very difficult as this particular solicitor is very inefficient so it took 100s of phone calls & chasing and we still ended up homeless for a weekend wherein he didn't transfer the money for our new house on time on the Friday so we couldn't move in, yet, our old house was sold - I'm not an expert on this area, but with electronic funds transfer etc. I would expect that both transactions could be done on the same day and we're the first people I've heard of who were left homeless (had to move all our stuff into a friends house). Anyway, in his usual efficiency, we got a bill 2.5 years later for 8000 euro - 4000 for each transaction.
This was way more than we expected, do we have any comeback since no price was agreed initially, yet at the same time, we did agree that it would be a reasonable price which I don't consider this to be. I checked with revenue and know that he kept our stamp duty in his account for the 2.5 years and only paid a nominal amount within the first 28 days as required by revenue to avoid a fine, the stamp duty was then paid just before he sent us our bill. If he had that money in a deposit account, he would've made several thousand in interest as well as the 8000 professional fees. We had given him 4000 initially which he had said himself should cover everything but that he'd work out the total later, we were actually waiting for a refund rather than a bill for a further 4000.
Personally I think 4000 is more than enough and we shouldn't pay him anymore. A friend of mine used a Dublin based solicitor for her move this year and paid 1900 per transaction. I know law is on his side so to speak so we're in a very weak position, what are our rights here do you think?
Thanks