And yet again, conveyancing world throws more unexpected news at us all this week – and it is not good.
Imagine that you come to the end of a usual Friday and the end of a busy working week. You look at the emails still to be dealt with and decide they can wait until Monday.
The email from the first time buyer confirming deposit monies have been sent and asking you to confirm receipt; the email from the client remortgaging their house, thanking you for a job well done and saying they look forward to receiving their balance monies on Monday so they can finish their ongoing kitchen extension; the email from the adult children of a deceased parent following the sale of their home, saying it’s fine, you can send the monies on Monday.
And then imagine spending a lovely weekend with your friends and family.
And then imagine turning up to work on Monday morning to find you can’t get access to your office – and there’s a sign on the window declaring to the world that the office is closed.
Unless you are one of those affected, it’s hard to imagine the true extent of the devastation and upset this has caused.
At the time of writing, we don’t know the details of what happened.
But if there is any light to be found in this dark turn of affairs, it’s that the world of conveyancing came together to offer support to all those affected.
And this is what conveyancers do… we support each other.
You only have to read those who say it’s always good to speak with the conveyancer on the other side of the transaction and not hide behind the emails.
We care about each other and we care about our clients.
We know the clients affected by this are struggling to make sense of what happened, as are the staff at the affected firms.
If some of what I have read is true, it’s going to take a long time to unravel the mess and the fallout will no doubt have a practical and financial impact for a long time to come.
Conveyancers are not getting a good press at the moment, but it heartens me to read the posts on LinkedIn offering support and sharing job recommendations.
Whatever size of firm you work in, the news this week is devastating. We really cannot imagine what it’s like for the staff in these firms, and for the affected clients.
Those unanswered emails will be heavy on the minds of conveyancers for a long time to come.
This column is written by a real high street conveyancer who wishes to remain anonymous. Read more in Today’s Conveyancer every week.
