Solicitor negligence - conveyancing
The areas where a solicitor or licensed conveyancer might be negligent during the purchase of a house are numerous and can be the source of great anxiety, inconvenience and cost for the unfortunate homeowner.
Restrictive covenants
You might buy a house and want to build either an extension or another building but your solicitor failed to inform you of restrictive covenants preventing that.
Leasehold properties
If your solicitor has not established the length and terms of a lease, this can create problems such as costly re-negotiation of terms with the freeholder.
Flood risk properties
If a house is located near a river or other water source, but your solicitor has failed to conduct a proper search or obtained an environmental report, you might end up living on a flood plain and be at greater risk of your home being flooded.
Building compliance
If your solicitor fails to notify you that the previous owner of your property didn't have the correct building compliance certificates for work carried out on the house, it can cost you money to rectify and make it difficult to sell the house on in future.
Property devaluation
If your solicitor has not informed you that you don’t have the right of way for a vehicle to deliver fuel to your property via a neighbour’s land, for instance, and your neighbour rejects access, it could cost you significantly finding an alternative solution.
Helping you with our expertise
Conveyancing negligence is an extremely complex area of the law, needing specialist legal representation that Stephensons can offer.
Conveyancing negligence cases
Where possible, we aim to negotiate a settlement for you before issuing legal proceedings and have access to a variety of alternative dispute resolution methods, such as mediation. This, or going to court if necessary, is about putting you back where you were financially before incurring a loss through solicitor negligence and ensuring you receive meaningful compensation.
The negligence team at Stephensons has many years’ experience in dealing with such cases and have access to relevant experts in our own conveyancing department. That means we are able to explain clearly the legal issues and provide open, honest and approachable services, plus a wide range of funding options.
Before taking legal action against a negligent solicitor or licensed conveyancer, we strongly suggest you speak to one of our negligence claims team on 01616 966 229.