Switching attorneys?
Help! I’m a first-time buyer about to go into contract this week. My attorney, who was recommended through a friend, is not the best at responding quickly to emails. I have had to learn about what she’s been doing from the seller’s broker. Apparently, she’s been doing her due diligence and is responsive to the…
Help!
I’m a first-time buyer about to go into contract this week. My attorney, who was recommended through a friend, is not the best at responding quickly to emails. I have had to learn about what she’s been doing from the seller’s broker. Apparently, she’s been doing her due diligence and is responsive to the seller’s broker and attorney. Contract is going out today but I am frustrated with her as I find this whole process nerve-wracking and want an attorney who is responsive to all of my questions quickly. I have a back-up attorney who is willing to take over and run with it and told me he is there to answer any and all questions. Can I ditch the current attorney and switch things over to the new attorney? Would it be stupid to do that now – my main goal is to be in K by Friday so it might be dumb to switch mid-stream since they are already working on it.
Thanks all.
Z and Tiptoe, and the others are right indeed: Usually real estate attorneys tend to be rather unresponsive or curt, either because they’re always at or preparing for another closing. The last thing they have time for is answering 800 questions. HOWEVER, that’s why most usually have an assistant. If you worked with a broker, try asking him/her some of these questions. You should expect some level of communication so address it over the phone if you really feel that you’re being ignored. If there are still outstanding “important” questions, bring it up when you go in to sign the contract.
agree with z and tiptoe
Thanks guys – great advice. Will stick with my present attorney and hopefully be in K ASAP.
agree with z and tiptoe. would add that you’ve got a little tension here between getting all your questions answered quickly and being in contract by Friday. most likely, your attorney has understood that your priority is getting into contract by a certain time rather than answering questions (particularly if they are not questions that pertain strictly to the contract). if that’s not right, you should tell her so. also to consider is that any new attorney will want to justify his or her added cost and probably can’t represent you adequately unless he goes over the K in detail. this will almost certainly delay a fully signed contract. you can always re-assess the situation, and your representation, after you have a contract signed.
It sounds like your present attorney is doing her job. She is dealing with the contract and with the seller’s attorney, trying to smooth the way for the closing. If your multitudinous questions cannot wait, perhaps the best thing to do is call her and arrange a time of day that she can answer all your questions over the phone or at her office. Not all people are great at email responses and my feeling is, all the important issues/questions come up once the contract has been prepared. Why don’t you wait on that and see if the attorney continues to be “unresponsive” before you hire someone else?
you can switch attorneys pretty much whenever you want. when we bought our place, the seller switched attorneys before contract because the original attorney was a complete nitwit (creating problems for both parties).
that said, switching at this point could be costly. your old attorney probably will demand payment for the work she did, while the new attorney will probably want to take a fresh look at everything. it would be best to negotiate fees in advance of any switch to make sure you aren’t paying twice for the same work.
just make sure you aren’t being overly demanding of your attorney’s time — what do you consider a “quick reply”? it’s not reasonable to expect responses within, say, an hour, but you’re entitled to hear back within a day or two on most matters. also, some attorneys don’t function well via e-mail, so try picking up the phone to see if you get a quicker response.
based on what you said, if you’re confident that your attorney is doing a good job on the substance of the transaction but just isn’t communicating promptly, i probably wouldn’t switch at this point. if the communication is so poor that you are unable to judge whether you are being well represented, you should probably switch, since this is such a big transaction for you.
good luck.