Well what a week! Whoever said the life of a conveyancer was dull.
I had four contract packages to review this week and they had all used the new TA6 form – it was relatively straightforward and in fact, many of the questions were not relevant to the sale of a freehold house without solar panels or a septic tank.
I did think that if I was buying a house with a septic tank or solar panels, those questions within the form would help and potentially save time as we would have more information at the start of the transaction rather than having to raise specific enquiries.
But one of the most annoying things about the use of the new form was that the firms who had kindly test driven it for me (as I have not yet had to send it to any of my clients to complete) did not check the answers before sending the forms to me.
So it is that old chestnut of clients completing forms and conveyancers not checking the answers… This remains the same whichever forms are used. It would be on my top ten of things to change – and remember that number one is put up your fees! – Please check the documents and forms before sending them to the buyer’s solicitor. So much time could be saved by making sure that the questions have been answered correctly, and with a little bit of Groundhog day, I think that I have mentioned before that it is really easy to see whether a firm has checked the forms before sending them – is the house sold with vacant possession?
If it says no, then there is either a tenant – but look! The question about occupiers says that the property is empty – or is that a mistake?
Conveyancing is difficult – there are so many pressures on us from many different places – that I understand the wish to send the documents to the buyer’s solicitor and then wait for enquiries, but many enquiries could be avoided if the documents were checked correctly.
This is written by a real high street conveyancer who wishes to remain anonymous. Read more in Today’s Conveyancer every week.
One Response
Unfortunately this article doesn’t mention the many flaws of, and additional risks associated with, the new form. The HSC acted on the purchase, not the sale, And no factory firm was.involved, I suspect.
We are not out of the woods yet and not all transactions with the new TA6 will be straightforward.
To clarify, no criticism is intended of the author’s quality of writing.