Property Lawyer Ceasing Trading

[robbird]

Hi everyone, I’m new to the forum and I’ve just hit my first stumbling block during Covid-19. I’m in the process of acquiring my first off-plan property and the property lawyers I’m using have just emailed me to say they are ceasing trading at the end of June.

I paid the full fee for their services up front and they have completed the initial exchange of contract and deposit transactions. The rest of their services would have been used nearing completion which now obviously won’t be done.

Has anyone been in this situation before and do you have any advice for me/things to watch out for so that I don’t run into any problems going forward?

I know I will have to get another property lawyer to continue with the purchase and that they should be able to use the details from my file with the original lawyer. I’m wondering what money/refunds and I am entitled to as all the services I have paid for haven’t been completed.

Thanks in advance

Rob

 

[andreaparr]

I think you deserve a refund in this case. However, this situation is unique and I don't really know what you need to do.

[edvm_aol_com]

I would enquire as to whether another firm is taking on their business as your file may get transferred to the other firm.

If you are still worried about the position of fees having been paid in advance and services not provided, raise the position with them. If you still don’t get any joy, maybe speak to you the law society, but hopefully you can resolve with the lawfirm you are dealing with

[arbalett]

That's a very tricky situation. What arguments do they have? If I were in your position, I'd go to the police or at least would contact another attorney who is familiar with such cases. I had a similar situation with my ex telecommunication provider that refused to provide me better services as was discussed in the contract itself. I refused to pay for bad services and they threatened to sue me for this. That's why I had to contact the business law attorney and ask him for help in this situation. Of course, after we gathered all the necessary docs, the company agreed to provide better services and even gave me some money back. Amazing!