Is is normal for solicitors to take their fees from the sale of a house?

Is is normal for solicitors to take their fees from the sale of a house before passing on money to seller and without discussing fee?

Re: Solicitor fee

I don't think so. I thought that they settled this separately having apprised you of the details of their invoice. Perhaps you could give more details of whta happened?

Re: Is is normal for solicitors to take their fees from the sale of a house .....?

More Details:

1. Appointed solicitor to take care of the house sale for me.
2. One of the times I was in solicitors office I asked how much it would cost for his services and he said this could be discussed at a later date.
3. When the sale finally went through solicitor paid off my mortgage and sent me a cheque for the remaining amount less almost 3,000 they had already taken for fees.

Thanks for any info!

Re: Is is normal for solicitors to take their fees from the sale of a house .....?

Did you not agree a fee in advance? have you used this solicitor before? Did you get a breakdown of the fees charged or did he just deduct €3000 from the balance and not say anything? Yes it is common practice for solicitors to take the agreed fee together with VAT and outlays from the proceeds. If you are not happy with the fees charged you should go back to the solicitor immediately.

Re: Is is normal for solicitors to take their fees from the sale of a house .....?

No I haven't used them before. I didn't agree a price as when I asked about it he just said it would be discussed later. I didn't get a breakdown just a flat fee plus about 200 for phone calls etc. I just find it strange that this money is taken without anything being said.

Re: Is is normal for solicitors to take their fees from the sale of a house .....?

We just sold in December so I remember exactly what happened for us.

We agreed an initial fee + VAT
He also warned that there would be a few additional charges, ie to release deeds from bank and other miscellaneous. These added up to about €300 which was what we had expected.

He then sent us a statement of account for the sale including a full costing for his services and asking were we OK with this.

We were as it was what was originally agreed upon and he transferred the balance into our account.

They should show you a statement before 'taking' their fee byt rights.

Re: Is is normal for solicitors to take their fees from the sale of a house .....?

I think you should maybe have agreed a fee upfront maybe?
We have bought twice and sold once and everytime I have been give a flat fee upfront and estimates for extras that would/could be incurred.

I don't thnk I would feel comfortable going ahead with no idea what kind of bill was to be incurred. There are huge differences in prices between different solicitors.

Re: Is is normal for solicitors to take their fees from the sale of a house .....?

Is €3K not a bit expensive for just the sale of a house. Perhaps they were working on a percentage basis and not a flat fee. I had phoned around when looking for mine and found the costs differed greatly.

My Solicitor which I got through homebuy.homesell cost €3,700 including VAT for the sale of my old house and the purchase of my new house, including all the outlays. All outlays were made clear to me before I went ahead with them too, so there was no nasty surprises. I had no problem with them taking their fee (for the sale) from the proceeds of the house sale and would think this is quite normal practice.

You should ask them for a breakdown of costs and see what they come back with.

I am after double checking my statement, mine cost €2850 for sale of appartmnet and purchas of house incl VAT and Govt duty.

€3000 does seem steep for a sale alone, but doesn't it all depend on whether there are any unforeseen difficulties? I'm no expert on these matters so could be completely wrong

Normally you would agree a set fee with a solicitor. If there were any abnormalities or extra work involved the solicitor should inform you of this and agree a fee for the additional workload. The main issue here is that the OP asked the solicitor to quote a fee and was fobbed off. This is not normal practice and should not be ignored. A letter should be drafted to the solicitor advising him mthat you are not happy with the fee and explaining exactly why this is so. If you get no satisfaction I would advise progressing the matter further which may ultimately involve a complaint to the Law Society. It should not be standard practice for any service provider to deduct a fee without agreement. What would you do if he had charged €6,000 fee?

So what was the "flat fee" that you were charged? The outlays are standard charges for mortgage vacates etc and would be the same for any solicitor acting for you? Did you not get a VAT Invoice from your solicitor on completion? Did you ask for one? I am amazed that you did not agree a fee upfront!

The Solicitor is required by regulation to write to client setting out in advance estimate of his fee and anticipated outlay. Interestingly, there was a case of one of the larger law firms in Dublin not doing so and the client refusing to pay. The Court held that the firm was entitled to 'reasonable remuneration' and that failure to inform the client of anticipated legal costs did not preclude firm from receiving payment, although it was a breach of solicitors regulations (and presumably may be subject to disciplinary procedures by the Law Society).

BrenG said:

The main issue here is that the OP asked the solicitor to quote a fee and was fobbed off. This is not normal practice and should not be ignored.

Click to expand...

I'm afraid I must disagree. I've been looking for a good solicitor for a while and so have used a different one almost every time I need a legal thing done (about once a year) and a lot of them have used this line. I have however insisted that they give me a quote and some are very reluctant........marvellous line in aul' bull, some of them have.

Would you let a builder commence work in your home without first getting a quote? A solicitor is no different and if any solicitor refuses to give you a written quote up-front then walk away...very fast.

Yet again I can't remember the name but there's a "section something or other" document that a solicitor is obliged to give a client setting out an illustrative estimate/quotation for the services to be rendered.

Section 68 of the 1994 Solicitors Amendment Act


68.—(1) On the taking of instructions to provide legal services to a client, or as soon as is practicable thereafter, a solicitor shall provide the client with particulars in writing of—

( a ) the actual charges, or
( b ) where the provision of particulars of the actual charges is not in the circumstances possible or practicable, an estimate (as near as may be) of the charges, or
( c ) where the provision of particulars of the actual charges or an estimate of such charges is not in the circumstances possible or practicable, the basis on which the charges are to be made,
by that solicitor or his firm for the provision of such legal services and, where those legal services involve contentious business, with particulars in writing of the circumstances in which the client may be required to pay costs to any other party or parties and the circumstances, if any, in which the client's liability to meet the charges which will be made by the solicitor of that client for those services will not be fully discharged by the amount, if any, of the costs recovered in the contentious business from any other party or parties (or any insurers of such party or parties).

mf

Section 68. I'll try to remember it this time!

Hoping to sell house in near future and was advised by EA to contact solicitor re deeds release etc. Over the phone he (solicitor) quoted a 0.5% fee (+ VAT) on value of sale of property plus about 300euro for miscellaneous stuff and release fees. Also gave me the exact wording of the letter I need to send to the mortgage provider to release deeds.

I assume I can request this fee and charges detail in writing.