Solicitor increased fee after starting work

B

BlackE

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Hi

I recently started working on reserving a property and engaged a solicitor a week ago. They received contracts for the property today and sent me a new quote with a €400 increase in legal fees.
How is that ethical and how do you deal with it?
 
What did the original quote say?

The work involved in processing the purchase can be simple or complex. Until your solicitor has access to the contract and other documents, it can be difficult to estimate the work involved
 
Hi

I originally reserved a different property (call it B) (i was in the process of bidding on one in K when that came along).

So I sought a few quotes and they were the lowest so went with them..

3 days later I found a new built around the same place (K) I was bidding on so decided to reserve one there instead. I informed them immediately that i had a preference for K instead of B. This was last Friday.

They received the contracts for the K property today and said "we have increased our prices this week so let us know if you wish to proceed and the quote was for the last property."

What are my options here?
 
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BlackE said:
"we have increased our prices this week so let us know if you wish to proceed and the quote was for the last property."
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It's a bit of an odd explanation.

But they have started work but seem happy to stop work and not charge a fee?

If they did work for the first property, they would probably be entitled to charge for it.

Or they may feel that you are a bit of a messer and that they will have their work cut out.
 
So, you got a quote for one property. Then changed your mind, and got a different quote for a different property.

I really don’t see the issue here.

Folks are entitled to raise their prices. Whether or not you use their services is up to you.
 
Besides there is no suggestion apart from the thread title that they have actually started work on the case.
 
Hi all

Thanks for the different opinions.

I got a quote for the initial property (B) on 28th February and confirmed to engage their service on 3rd
I found the 2nd property on 3rd March and notified them of it.
The contracts were sent on 6th March for the first property.
The contracts for the 2nd property were sent today (14th March).

They said they increased the fees this week and were working on my previous case and started work on the new one today.

Thank you for the links.
@Brendan Burgess : the point about messing.. lol.. but this is a big deal to mess with.

Thank you so much.
 
BlackE said:
I got a quote for the initial property (B) on 28th February and confirmed to engage their service on 3rd
I found the 2nd property on 3rd March and notified them of it.
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Seems to me that you got a quote for one service but then looked for a different one so the fact that there's a difference in price doesn't seem surprising to me. I don't really know what "reserving" a property means here but the work involved may be different and priced differently for different properties. Similarly for conveyancing on different properties.
 
Reserved means that I paid the booking deposit for the property and provided solicitor details so the contracts were sent to them immediately after.

I'm not happy about it and expressed it because I requested before "this week's" fee hike. The fact is that they have the contracts now so if I pull out they would still ask for 50% of the fees so I just told them to proceed. It's just not going to be the 5 ☆ reviews they expect.

I don't know enough about dealing with solicitors so ended up just tagging along once they sent the Section 150 or wanted to actually go with another (John gaynor).

Again thank you all for your thoughts and input. I love this forum.
 
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I don't understand. Did you stick with the original solicitor or go with another (John Gaynor?)? Did you have to pay the original solicitor for work already done? Is there any outstanding issue here?
 
I've got to say that all sounds a bit mad to me.

You paid a booking deposit to an estate agent, expressing your interest in progressing to the purchase stage with a property, and then instructed a solicitor.

Did you then pay a 2nd booking deposit on the new-build and get a refund of the original deposit? As no contract is in place with the EA, requesting a refund of the original deposit from them is a no-fault transaction, they must refund on foot of the contract/no-contract receipt.

What instructions did you issue to the solicitor about the 1st property?
 
I paid the booking deposit for the first and then contacted the solicitor. I had the quotes at this stage and then I sent on my details to them to which they issued the s150 document. After that I just communicated with them because I thought it was a 'sealed deal'.

I told them I changed my mind about it and gave the 2nd property address. So basically they hadn't started any work on the first by the 3rd of March and they told me they had returned the contracts on 7th march. I'm aware that the deposit is refundable.

The 2nd property contracts arrived on 14th when they reached out and told me that they had increased their fees this week so that would apply to my "new file" as they were only starting on it now.

Why is it mad? I was trying to find one around K area which I thought wasn't going to work out but it eventually did.

No I didn't change even though I wanted to because as said I don't understand dealing with solicitors and don't want to pay alot more than 400 for no work done.

No i haven't paid anything yet. I thought they would bill me if I pulled out.

I assume they would charge once I go for signing the contracts. Happy to hear from experienced people what the process is.

My shock and confusion about the 'fees' change comes from my earlier communication with John Gaynor. I had informed them that I was in the process of bidding on a property in K area but another one had come up in B area. So they gave me a quote for K (because it was higher) and reassured that if it didn't work out they would work with me on other ones. So I thought that should be the case with the others too unless you sign the contracts ofcourse.
 
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BlackE said:
So basically they hadn't started any work on the first by the 3rd of March and they told me they had returned the contracts on 7th march. I'm aware that the deposit is refundable.
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So your thread title is totally misleading?
BlackE said:
Solicitor increased fee after starting work
Click to expand...
BlackE said:
Happy to hear from experienced people what the process is.
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This might help. In spite of the title most of the information isn't Dublin specific.

A Comprehensive Guide to the Conveyancing Process in Dublin: Your Essential Step-by-Step Guide

Purchasing or selling a property in Dublin is an exciting yet complex legal process known as conveyancing.
propertysolicitorsdublin.ie propertysolicitorsdublin.ie
 
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BlackE said:
I got a quote for the initial property (B) on 28th February and confirmed to engage their service on 3rd
I found the 2nd property on 3rd March and notified them of it.
Click to expand...


BlackE said:
I had informed them that I was in the process of bidding on a property in K area but another one had come up in B area. So they gave me a quote for K (because it was higher) and reassured that if it didn't work out they would work with me on other ones.
Click to expand...

You seem to have this all mixed up but in any case I can't see how you could have been bidding for a second property in February when you didn't find it until 3rd March.

Your story has developed a lot and is now very different to your opening post. You have certainly no reason for complaint as the original quote was for one transaction and when this changed you were quoted promptly for a different transaction.

I would expect that the extra €400 will be well earned by the solicitor. The sooner you get over your shock and confusion the better for all concerned.
 
llgon said:
You have certainly no reason for complaint as the original quote was for one transaction and when this changed you were quoted promptly for a different transaction.
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I agree...
ClubMan said:
Seems to me that you got a quote for one service but then looked for a different one so the fact that there's a difference in price doesn't seem surprising to me.
Click to expand...
 
Are they different types of property? If in a new estate the solicitor may have recently handled one in the same estate. Other property might seem more complex.
Also, the quotes are estimates, final bill could be different.
 
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