Payment from Solicitor after closing

bbavel

Hi

We sold a house in December 2014 and contracts were signed on the 12th of January 2015. Buyer has moved in since the 21st of January. Solicitor has not paid us yet. How long should it take?

Thanks in advance Bert

by the seaside

Personally, by this stage I would be chained to their front desk until I got the money, but I know that's a real answer.

Uno my Uno.

by the seaside wrote: »

Personally, by this stage I would be chained to their front desk until I got the money, but I know that's a real answer.

I'd expect most people to be the same to be honest.

OP there may be a valid reason for withholding funds, the only person who knows the answer is your solicitor, you should give him a call and demand funds or an answer you're satisfied with.

Eldarion

Are you certain your solicitor has received the funds into their accounts? Even if it hasn't it's still a completely unacceptable length of time.

I'd be expecting the funds with interest at this stage, it's been well over a full calendar month. Speculating of course but accrued interest could be worth as much as another ~1-2k at this stage depending on how much your house sold for.

mickman

Eldarion wrote: »

Are you certain your solicitor has received the funds into their accounts? Even if it hasn't it's still a completely unacceptable length of time.

I'd be expecting the funds with interest at this stage, it's been well over a full calendar month. Speculating of course but accrued interest could be worth as much as another ~1-2k at this stage depending on how much your house sold for.

well if they handed over keys without getting the money then that would have been a bit of a mistake now wouldnt it

Eldarion

mickman wrote: »

well if they handed over keys without getting the money then that would have been a bit of a mistake now wouldnt it

I'm still reeling from the fact that the OP is waiting over a month. :eek::eek::eek:

The_Conductor

bbavel wrote: »

How long should it take?

Normally funds would be transferred electronically the week after the sale- max 10 days. Over a month is not normal.

mickman

Is the solicitor looking more tanned than normal :-)

Uno my Uno.

Eldarion wrote: »

Are you certain your solicitor has received the funds into their accounts? Even if it hasn't it's still a completely unacceptable length of time.

I'd be expecting the funds with interest at this stage, it's been well over a full calendar month. Speculating of course but accrued interest could be worth as much as another ~1-2k at this stage depending on how much your house sold for.

If the solicitor has released keys without getting money something has gone terribly wrong!

The funds won't have earned any interest worth calculating in the solicitor's client account. The Rates of interest are essentially non existent nowadays and a solicitor is obliged to account to his client for it anyway.

by the seaside

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

If the solicitor has released keys without getting money something has gone terribly wrong!

The funds won't have earned any interest worth calculating in the solicitor's client account. The Rates of interest are essentially non existent nowadays and a solicitor is obliged to account to his client for it anyway.

Steady now. Surely the solicitor has the money!

OP, my non-professional advice is to get down the solicitor's office at 9 a.m. tomorrow, and politely insist on seeing somebody straight away who can explain where your money is and transfer your money on the same day. Don't take no for an answer, unless they have a very good reason.

zagmund

It's, err, just resting in my account.
or
You didn't instruct me to transfer the money to you
or
He's in the Bahamas at the moment

It's not a question of the solicitor paying you, it's a question of the solicitor giving you your money. If I was expecting a house-sized cheque from *anyone* I wouldn't be waiting a month to get it. I would be waiting maximum 3 days and grumbling about why they can't transfer same day the same as everyone else.

z

zagmund

Interest rates might be terrible these days, but they do exist and on house-sized amounts they do generate interest worth worrying about.

Back of the envelope calculations say that you are missing out on ~€80-90 for every €100k on deposit for a month at 1% (which I'm getting on my deposit). That's €80-90 that you should have in your pocket. Yes, I'm aware that this would be subject to DIRT. I'm just pointing out that the interest is not insignificant.

Apart from anything else you might have a requirement for the money, on account of it being yours and all.

z

jimmycrackcorm

Surely the most logical approach would have been to ask the solicitor directly what the delay is instead of asking a bunch of internet strangers?

by the seaside

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Surely the most logical approach would have been to ask the solicitor directly what the delay is instead of asking a bunch of internet strangers?

Without meaning to offend the OP, some people are not confident in this kind of discussions with a solicitor. If that is the case, it's worth bringing someone along.

Uno my Uno.

zagmund wrote: »

Interest rates might be terrible these days, but they do exist and on house-sized amounts they do generate interest worth worrying about.

Back of the envelope calculations say that you are missing out on ~€80-90 for every €100k on deposit for a month at 1% (which I'm getting on my deposit). That's €80-90 that you should have in your pocket. Yes, I'm aware that this would be subject to DIRT. I'm just pointing out that the interest is not insignificant.

Apart from anything else you might have a requirement for the money, on account of it being yours and all.

z

Just FYI, Solicitors' Client Accounts don't get anything like 1%, most banks don't pay any interest on them at all. If they did it would be something less than 0.025% if even.

zagmund

Uno my Uno. wrote: »

Just FYI, Solicitors' Client Accounts don't get anything like 1%, most banks don't pay any interest on them at all. If they did it would be something less than 0.025% if even.

The important bit is not what interest it would get in the solicitors account. What's important and relevant is the money the OP has lost by not having it on deposit in *his* account for the duration.

z

by the seaside

zagmund wrote: »

The important bit is not what interest it would get in the solicitors account. What's important and relevant is the money the OP has lost by not having it on deposit in *his* account for the duration.

z

What's important is getting the money ASAP.

zagmund

by the seaside wrote: »

What's important is getting the money ASAP.

Which was my point. It's the OPs money, he should have use of it.

z

handlemaster

Has OP not called the solicitors office at all ?

Strange ....

bbavel

thanks Guys . this is the first house we have sold so had no idea how long it takes. he came back last Friday looking for sign off on bill. Still no money.

Radio5

Was there a mortgage on your house to be paid back or any other debts/taxes etc to be paid off once the house was sold?

If so, have the bank/credit union/ building society/revenue been paid off in full or is there any issue about how much you owed to them? A phonecall to the Bank/building society would tell you that.

Was there an auctioneer involved, has he /she been paid ? Again a phonecall would confirm this.

Either way, your solicitor should now be giving you a printed statement of account showing
1. the amount of money they received and if necessary paid out to bank etc and how much is left.
2. The bill as per the estimate they are obliged to give you when you hired them.

Make an appointment, go in and see them and if needs be bring someone with you.