Diary of a High Street Conveyancer – Before telling the chain I’m holding it up, please undertake to learn the process

Enquiries are the thing that really irritate me – despite courses and articles on which enquiries should not be asked, we continue to get questions about plans and identity. And one thing that infuriates me is the number of times I ask for the buyers’ full names for the contract in my initial letter, and then the first query is: “Please insert my clients’ full name in the contract – their names are Paddington Bear and Winnie the Pooh.” 

Well, forgive me for screaming at my computer, but I asked you for those details in an initial letter which you clearly did not read as it also stated that if you did not provide the details, then you would be submitting an unnecessary query and requesting an amended contract for something that could have been avoided.

But there was one enquiry which caused me even more irritation than usual this week.

The estate agent told me (and my client – and we all know how that plays out!) that I had not replied to all enquiries and there was one outstanding.

I asked the buyer’s solicitor what they believed was outstanding. But rather than answering my simple question, they sent me the initial enquiries (40 in total), meaning I had to go through all of them to work out which was outstanding.

Well, how cross was I when it turned out they were telling the chain I was delaying the transaction because I had not provided Replies to Requisitions on Title?

Call me old fashioned, but I was taught that Replies to Requisitions on Title were sent prior to completion, or perhaps between exchange of contracts and completion. And this set me thinking about why…

Well, let’s think about what the TA13 asks. It asks where the keys will be left – something which may not be known early on in the transaction as we are unlikely to have had the conversation with the client about it by that stage.

The majority of sellers leave the keys with the estate agents but there are other possibilities: there could be a key safe, or keys may be left with a neighbour – details we may not know until nearer to completion.

Mortgage redemption? Yes, we are giving the buyer’s solicitor an undertaking to redeem all charges; surely we do not want to give that undertaking too soon or until we have a final figure.

What documents am I handing over? I may not know if you are going to ask me for an indemnity policy.

Can we all please remember that Replies to Requisitions on Title are not pre-contract enquiries.

The Replies to Requisitions on Title are focussed, late-stage procedural steps. They are specific questions, the answers to which create undertakings.

I will always provide you with a completed TA13 (and not a standard sheet of answers) but I need to be sure that I can comply with the undertakings I am giving before doing so!

This column is written by a real high street conveyancer who wishes to remain anonymous. Read more in Today’s Conveyancer every week.