DIY Conveyancing And Money Laundering Regulations.

The solicitor for the sellers of the property I am proposing to buy are insisting that as I am a diy conveyancer I have to pay the deposit and purchase money through a solicitors account. I have provided an ID1, proof of funds and the provenance of the funds.

5 Answers

It is up to them to decide how they wish to proceed in accordance with their internal policies, Law Society AML guidance, SRA Code of Conduct and the relevant Anti-Money Laundering Regulations.

Within those there is nothing to say that you must pay through a solicitor's account (otherwise no one would be able to purchase property - imagine if you instructed a solicitor and your solicitor told you that they cannot accept the funds from you directly but you must pay through another solicitor's account... but that other solicitor won't accept the funds from you directly unless it comes through another solicitor's account... etc). Normally, if a buyer is self-representing the law firm acting on the other side will be fairly stringent in seeing your ID documents, evidence of funds, source of funds, and so forth. They are permitted to charge their client a higher fee as well to deal with someone unrepresented.

That being said, it ultimately comes down to their policies and what they are willing to accept. Their stance is not wrong - just their own policy, which they are perfectly entitled to follow. If they are not willing to accept the funds from you directly then either you need to find a solicitor, find a different property, or the seller needs to change law firm.

www.notaryexpress.co.uk

Thanks for that

I have undertaken many diy conveyances both buying and selling and have never come across this. On a recent purchase the sellers solicitors insisted they saw a bank statement showing that the money was coming from my bank account . The money was transferred by chapps and no other problems. The advice above is sound. In your situation I would ask the seller to help and maybe ask them to move solicitor. Be prepared to walk away and buy somewhere else if necessary.

Thank you
The seller's solicitor has been as awkward as possible but has maintained the problems and slow progress are down to me. O have an email and correspondence trail which proved otherwise and so I passed this on to the seller when she contacted me directly. The solicitor then took issue with me contacting her client directly. Despite me pointing out that her client initiated the contact.

I have come across many a difficult solicitor. A solicitor would not like their client contacting the other solicitor directly but you are not a solicitor and there is no reason why you should not contact whoever you wish. I have done my conveyances for over 40 years and I have noticed that the legal profession has become more difficult over time when dealing with the diy conveyancer.