Legal
The purchase of a property, especially for the first time, can seem like a daunting prospect – dealing with estate agents, mortgage advisors and planning your future in a new home.
Whilst the necessity to instruct the services of (and pay for) a solicitor may seem like a distinct inconvenience, many purchasers are unaware of the significant role played by their solicitor during this exciting time.
In Ireland, all property transactions must be carried out via the legal profession. Modern methods of communication means there is less personal contact between client and solicitor and on most occasions the purchaser may only meet their solicitor once or twice throughout the process. The resulting impression is that the role played by the solicitor is relatively minor, however the reality is that much work is carried on in the background on your behalf. Your solicitor has a high level of responsibility to both you and your lending institution to ensure that the property you are purchasing is of good marketable title.
Title is effectively the history of possession of the property and defines the right of ownership to it. Title deeds are the collection of documents pertaining to such ownership which accumulate throughout the lifetime of the property. Also included with the title deeds may be documents pertaining to planning, rights of way, etc. These remain in the possession of a lending institution where a mortgage is in place and can only be released to an owner when the mortgage has been satisfied.
During the heady days of the Celtic Tiger, property deals were regularly carried out with a breathtaking level of urgency. A few years on, solicitors are only now seeing the resultant fallout of such whirlwind transactions, with poor quality title being presented for properties on sale in the current market. Banks and other lending institutions who previously had a devil may care attitude are now placing a very high onus indeed on solicitors to take more and more responsibility for guaranteeing that the property securing your loan has perfect title. Your solicitor is required to give a signed undertaking to your lender to this effect - long gone are the days when banks would accept anything less than perfection.
Between the time you instruct your solicitor and a binding contract is in place (which takes an average of six weeks), a considerable amount of correspondence commonly occurs between the solicitors for the vendor and purchaser in order to deal with title queries raised, some of which may even necessitate the re-drafting of missing title documents.
The contract which you eventually sign will likely have been altered significantly by your solicitor from its original form drafted by the vendor's solicitor. Indeed, on rare occasions, the purchaser may have to be advised to withdraw entirely from a purchase in circumstances where it proves impossible to satisfy the bank's requirements in relation to title. Of equal importance, your solicitor has a responsibility to you, the client, if you are at risk of buying a lame duck.
After you have long since settled in to your new home, there is further work to be done by your solicitor in registering the transfer and mortgage with the Land Registry and dealing with any queries which may arise in that regard. A purchaser's file will often remain on a solicitor's desk for up to two years after the closing date until such time as the registration process has completed and the title documents can finally be sent to the bank.
So, despite having the highest level of responsibility of all of the parties involved in a conveyancing transaction, a solicitor's fees are generally the least costly. Do remember, cut price service can mean cut corners - like everything else, you get what you pay for.
by Wendy O'Brien - Amorys Solicitors.