Conveyancing solicitor wants to return retainer

Jafin

Hi all,

I contacted a solicitor in July of last year after getting mortgage approval and paid a retainer for their services. I went sale agreed on a property in October but unfortunately the sale fell through. With covid and everything going on at the moment I haven't found any other suitable properties within my price range that I could go sale agreed on so there has been no movement.

Solicitor emailed me a few hours ago wanting to confirm my address so the retainer could be returned to me. This came as a surprise to me so I emailed back confirming the address and asking if this meant that the firm would no longer be representing me. This is my first time ever having a solicitor so I'm not sure of the ins and outs and was wondering if this is standard practice? The only thing I can think of is that maybe a retainer is returned if there has been no progress in six months or something, but that's literally just me trying to guess a reason. I haven't received a reply yet, which is fine of course as it has only been a couple of hours, but I'm a bit of a worry wart and just wanted to check if anybody knew if this is normal or what might be going on.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can provide some help.

chops018

Solicitor firms are now garnering negative interest rates on cash held in client accounts in banks. So no use to them holding monies for clients anymore unless they really have to.

I would say that's it, but cannot be sure.

Jafin

chops018 wrote: »

Solicitor firms are now garnering negative interest rates on cash held in client accounts in banks. So no use to them holding monies for clients anymore unless they really have to.

I would say that's it, but cannot be sure.

Oh ok, thanks for that information! So if I am understanding correctly basically it is actually costing the firm money to keep my retainer in a client account for me? That puts my mind at ease at least. Thanks again.

chops018

Jafin wrote: »

Oh ok, thanks for that information! So if I am understanding correctly basically it is actually costing the firm money to keep my retainer in a client account for me? That puts my mind at ease at least. Thanks again.

Yes, that's it exactly. Although if you've only a small amount with them then the cost would be tiny, but I would imagine they are just offloading funds from the client account that won't be needed in the short term.

Jafin

chops018 wrote: »

Yes, that's it exactly. Although if you've only a small amount with them then the cost would be tiny, but I would imagine they are just offloading funds from the client account that won't be needed in the short term.

That makes sense. I did a quick Google after replying to your post and read a little about it and how the Law Society were hoping to be exempt so it looks like you're probably correct. Hopefully I'll know for sure soon. Once again thank you for the information, I very much appreciate it.

Dolbhad

Solicitors are tightly regulated in regards to clients funds. They can only hold funds for a few months after the matter has closed and are required to return all fees held on account. Firms are audited and also need to submit their accounts yearly to Law Society to ensure they only hold funds they need to.

Jim2007

Dolbhad wrote: »

Solicitors are tightly regulated in regards to clients funds. They can only hold funds for a few months after the matter has closed and are required to return all fees held on account. Firms are audited and also need to submit their accounts yearly to Law Society to ensure they only hold funds they need to.

From what I remember, a retainer represents an advancement against the solicitor’s fees, not clients funds.

Jafin

Oh sorry I never got back to you all on this. My solicitor replied after a few days and said she would still be representing me but that they can't have funds in their client account for matters that have been inactive for three months. I hadn't spoken to her for about five months at that stage since no house viewings were allowed and I couldn't make any progress in my search for a property. She said if I was actively looking she could update my file, which she has since done, to show that the matter is still active so the retainer isn't being returned.

Claw Hammer

Jim2007 wrote: »

From what I remember, a retainer represents an advancement against the solicitor’s fees, not clients funds.

It is still the client's money until the solicitor raises an invoice and transfers it to the office account.