Solicitor drew down mortgage cheque three weeks before house completion!

P

powernap

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I was coming close to completing the purchase of a property. The snag list had been handed to the builder and I was waiting for indication for the resnag to completed before I closed on the sale. The snag list was handed in just before the builders holidays which coincided with my holidays. He told me that they wouldn't be doing the snags until after the holidays as the site was closed. Upon my arrival home three weeks later I had a letter from the mortgage provider saying that the cheque had been drawn down during my holidays (during the builders holidays). I tried to ring the solicitors assitant who was dealing with my purchase but she was away on holidays. It transpires that she drew down the cheque before she went on her holidays. For my convenience I had completed the house insurance forms before I went on holidays and forward dated it. A week after my arrival home the snags were completed and the keys were handed over a full three weeks after the cheque had been drawn down.The assistant who had drawn down the cheque was still on holidays during all this but has now rang me to call in and close all the paperwork which I presume is to pay the bill.
I only want to pay the bill owed less 3 weeks of my first mortgage repayment.Solicitor is supposed to act in my best interest but was more concerned with cleaning her work slate before her holidays.
 
I'd say she was more concerned about making interest on your money by having it in her account for 3 weeks. Seems to happen quite a bit I'm afraid.
 
"The assistant who had drawn down the cheque was still on holidays during all this but has now rang me to call in and close all the paperwork which I presume is to pay the bill."

Partly - but also to sign the Purchase Deed.

"I only want to pay the bill owed less 3 weeks of my first mortgage repayment.Solicitor is supposed to act in my best interest but was more concerned with cleaning her work slate before her holidays."


Or was more concerned that if she did not draw it down when she did that it would not be available when you needed it. It is really tricky trying to organise loan cheques to satisfy clients. If you draw it down early, so you know its there when you need it, thats bad. If you don't draw it down in time and there is a delay and client cannot get into property, thats bad.

And contary to common belief, keeping money in the client account is a pain, and there is bog all interest worth getting unless this was for several million. Which I doubt.

mf
 
mf1 said:
And contary to common belief, keeping money in the client account is a pain, and there is bog all interest worth getting unless this was for several million. Which I doubt.
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Even on a mortgage of EUR 250,000, I reckon I would be able to make EUR 500-600 interest on it over three weeks...Certainly not a "bog all" amount to alot of house buyers....

It sounds like the OP didn't ask for the funds to be drawn down. It might be difficult to time the drawdown to please the client etc but surely they have final say for when they want to get the cheque issued. Even if the assistant was on holidays, I am sure the solicitor himself or another assistant would have been able to manage to get the cheque from the bank.
 
One other point: I very often have a loan cheque payable to the clients which is marked "Non negotiable". Some builders solicitors will not accept these even if they are endorsed and the only way to deal with the cheque is to have it endorsed, lodge it to the account , wait until it clears and then obtain a bank draft payable to the builders solicitors on cleared funds. This can take several days.

It is difficult to organise the loan cheque to please everyone. Very few of the lenders are particularly proactive and there can be a lot of chasing necessary to get the cheque at all. Add to this many clients not getting the point that they have to deal with all the conditions ( life cover, house insurance etc.,etc) and it can be extremely stressful for everyone.

mf
 
If the mortgage cheque is drawn on a bank other than the bank that the solicitor banks with it takes 5 working days to clear the loan cheque same bank 3 working days. It is only at this point that the solicitor has use of the funds and the solicitors would normally leave the money in their Client Current Account until the sale is to be closed. They would not get any interest on the "loan cheque" if it were in their current a/c. If it were transferred to a deposit account at 3% for 3 weeks they would get approx 432 euro less Dirt Tax of 86.40 nett amount 345.60. I feel that the solicitor was trying to have things sorted out for her client as there is nothing worse than waiting for your loan cheque. Did you keep your solicitor informed about the snag list etc. If you had been ready to close the sale and solicitor was on hols you may have been very annoyed that everything was not organised for you.
 
Sunny said:
Even on a mortgage of EUR 250,000, I reckon I would be able to make EUR 500-600 interest on it over three weeks...Certainly not a "bog all" amount to alot of house buyers....

It sounds like the OP didn't ask for the funds to be drawn down. It might be difficult to time the drawdown to please the client etc but surely they have final say for when they want to get the cheque issued. Even if the assistant was on holidays, I am sure the solicitor himself or another assistant would have been able to manage to get the cheque from the bank.
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I agree Sunny, the interest would have been alot better off in the OP's account that the solicitors, even if it was a 'bog all' amount. I'm sure some solictors (not a dig mf1, just a general opinion) could have quite a few cheques in their account at any given time which could build up to a tidy sum.
 
thanks for all the replies. my problem with the scenario is that i have a full mortgage repayment of ~€1000 for a month and i only had access to the house for one week of that month. i wasn't debating money resting in accounts etc.
my solicitor is a sizeable operation and surely holiday work could of been delegated.
 
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