‘Twas the night before Christmas and quiet as mice,
Conveyancers closed office doors and headed into the night,
Another year over, with house moves all done,
A difficult job, now off for some fun.
With memories of clients, some nice and some not,
Crossing the Ts and those Is we must dot,
Individuals and companies, we must check identity,
Oh heavens above! Is it a non-entity?
Receiving the contracts, then checking the title,
Missing deeds and covenants, a rent charge – so frightful,
Small courtyard, on which land it borders,
Submitting searches, Tree Preservation orders.
Estate agent calls – what is the progress?
Copy in emails, try to impress,
Clients get anxious, pick up the phone,
Explain the process, all so unknown.
And the bug bear – those queries!
The worst thing, so dreary,
So common, so standard,
We all end up angered.
But get to exchange and all happy days!
Check the position throughout the chain,
But someone’s not ready, we all get quite cross
The fee earner has sent the file to be signed off by her boss
But then we exchange, the date’s set in stone,
The clients look forward to their new home,
Submit final searches and request the money,
The day suddenly appears to be more sunny.
And then it’s completion, where are the funds?
Stuck in the system but we are sure they will come,
The monies arrive, the keys are released
The seller has not left yet – but he should be done by three.
The client has moved , everyone’s happy,
Quick register the title, LMS say ‘make it snappy’,
We all know that now is the longest part,
As we wait for the Land Registry to perfect their art.
But all in all, it’s been a good year , those highs and those lows,
thank you again for reading each week,
my rants and my raves , my thoughts and my musings,
I hope that you all find it amusing.
So head into Christmas and have a good time
Be happy, keep smiling and always be kind,
As I close my laptop and remain out of sight,
Happy conveyancing to all, and to all a goodnight!
This is written by a real high street conveyancer who wishes to remain anonymous. Read more in Today’s Conveyancer every week.
