Any legal-minded bods out there?

[KathyLauren]

The person who owned the house is institutionalised and has an English solicitor who deals with the estate. They approached me - I'd contacted them about a village matter so they had my email address. They're the ones who accepted our offer but it has no standing in law until accepted on Scottish legal form that then constitutes a contract.

Complicated? It's driving us bananas. We did a little detective work after I posted this thread - the solicitor has moved to another practice. I've emailed him at his new firm (that should freak him out) and I've emailed his old firm with copies of all his emails.

So we now have to wait and see.

Oh and we heard this afternoon that someone else is thinking of putting in an offer.

I don't want to alarm you, but it is time to get alarmed about this situation. The situation sounds fishy - you might have been had. Important point: has any money changed hands? If you paid a deposit on the transaction and the alleged solicitor is not legitimate, you can probably kiss that money goodbye.

First , you need to save every piece of information you have about this transaction. Print out and save every email, find and save every letter that has changed hands. You need to start documenting this. Then find out everything you can about this alleged English solicitor. Is he or she legitimate? Check with the Bar Society or whatever your equivalent is over there to see if they have even heard of him or her.

If the alleged solicitor is legitimate, then send a strongly worded letter demanding to know the status of the transaction. If you do not get a prompt response, you may want to find a real solicitor to pursue legal action. If you cannot verify the legitimacy of the alleged solicitor, you should contact the police fraud unit and report the situation.

[Millymollymandy]

Congratulations Bonnie! Obviously you are different just like any Ish members who are estate agents or traffic wardens, or dare I say it, bankers.

[Green Aura]

Yes, congratulations Bonnie

[MKG]

Congratulations Bonnie! Obviously you are different just like any Ish members who are estate agents or traffic wardens, or dare I say it, bankers.

Spelling went a bit awry on that last word, MMM.

Mike

[Green Aura]

I received an email this morning to say we got qualified acceptance of our offer!!!!!!

So.......either Bonnie was the errant solicitor and has been in this morning and fixed or one of our emails hit a nerve

[Thomzo]

Congratulations Bonnie, well done. You've worked really hard to get here.

Congratulations GA. Your persistence has obviously paid off. Fingers crossed for you.

Zoe

[fifi folle]

That's great Maggie!!!
Congratulations Bonnie!
And yes, there are even ishy bankers. My hubby is an accountant working for a big nasty bank, but dreams of a small farm where we can grow veg and raise some animals

[Millymollymandy]

Woohoo good stuff Maggie!

[bonniethomas06]

Glad you got it sorted in the end!

Sorry to hijack the thread, too. Should say for the avoidance of doubt that I qualified as a legal executive rather than a solicitor. I am still working on that bit and should get there in 2012.
For those who don't know, legal executives are sort of second-rate solicitors, who are qualified to the same level, but only in one area of law.

Hope the house sale goes through swiftly.

[Green Aura]

I qualified as a legal executive rather than a solicitor

- OK, Bonnie, you're off the hook - this time

Now it's just a matter of waiting and hoping someone doesn't come along with a better off until ours has been formally accepted - at which point it's binding here in Scotland. That's the only good bit about the house buying system up here - no gazumping. The rest of it is much more stressful.

[Thurston Garden]

Maggie - sounds like things are moving in the right direction!

In Scotland the contract (Bargain) is only concluded when you make an offer, the vendor's solicitor (who needs to be qualified in Scot's Law - presumably why the estate's solicitor instructed a scottish firm to do the conveyancing?) sends your solicitor a Qualified Acceptance and then your solicitor accepts the Qualified Acceptance. Only then is the bargain concluded.

At this point, the vendors solicitor passes over a 'marketable title' (title deeds) for your solicitor to check through. At this point, your solicitor will instruct searches on the property where an outside firm will confirm that there are no adverse claims on the title, there are no plans for compulsorty purchase or planning permissions on the property etc and that the roads access is adopted, that there are services and such like to it.

Only when your solicitor is happy with the title and has had satisfactory searches back that you will exchange on the property - i.e. exchange money for a set of keys.

So, I would say where you are at the moment, the vendor is legally obliged to sell you the land on the basis that you/your solicitor is happy with the title etc. It is usual in an offer to have an agreed timescales in which after concluding the bargain - I have just done this on a piece of land and agreed 28 days.

PM me if I can be of any help.

TG

PS - well done Bonnie on qualifying!