Some benefits of using a local Conveyancer
The modern trend is for Estate agents to try and persuade their clients to use their own pet conveyancers – often a factory type outlet miles away from the town in which the property is located; clients too will often go on line to find the cheapest quote, rather than look to their local firms.
When I began in practice in the mid 1980’s there were two firms in the town where I worked, and two estate agents – all four being long established in one form or another; some clients – no doubt wary of small town gossip – took their conveyancing to the big city. By the turn of the century there were four law firms and five or six estate agents. Local knowledge was being diluted…
I well recall a couple of cases where my local knowledge saved the day. In one of them, a question had been asked by a buying conveyancer about the property’s septic tank and storm drains which the vendor client could not answer; the firm’s newly recruited young conveyancer came to me for help. A glance though the pre-registration deeds (remember them?) showed the house had once been owned by someone I knew, although I did not know him when he lived there. I gave the chap a ring and asked him if he could remember anything about this property: his reply was, “remember it – I built it Chris: what do you need to know?” Chapter and verse was duly given and the query answered to the buyer’s satisfaction. They went on to complete the transaction.
On another occasion, I was acting for a buyer of a house on a fairly new development in the town. A contract pack had arrived from the selling side – acting for a national relocation company. I knew what should have been in the pack and a lot was missing. When I rang the other side they said they had supplied everything they’d been given. I recalled another client who had bought directly from the developers and had left the deed packet in the firm’s strongroom following completion. After a courtesy call to check they had no objection, I was able to extract a full set of copies of the missing documents: problem solved – or so I thought until the local search came back revealing that the estate road was not yet adopted and the Adoption Agreement & Bond had expired three months previously. Knowing the selling side would have no answers, I took a lunchtime walk and ascertained that for all intents and purposes the development was complete: top surface on the road, pavements tarmacked, streetlights in place etc. On my return, I rang County Highways and asked to be put through to Ian who was in charge of adoptions. As soon as I mentioned the name of the road, he said, “You’re going to tell me we’ve not adopted it and the Agreement’s expired”. Ian went on to say it was at the top of his hit list and the only things standing in the way of it being signed off were one broken kerbstone and one streetlight that did not come on at night. I advised my client accordingly and the decision was taken to proceed.
Let us now take a step back and think where both of these jobs could have ended if the client of today had been persuaded to use the conveyancing factory favoured by the estate agent rather than their local high street practice…..
Even now, ten years since I retired from practice and came off the Solicitors’ Roll, I get the occasional enquiry asking if I can remember anything about an anomaly on a particular development in that town. Only now the query usually comes from the local estate agents, because they know their recommended conveyancers in (say) Northampton won’t have a clue.
Chris Green