A new law firm is launching a service that guarantees speedy conveyancing or no fees.
Muve’s new muveFast service goes live in early June and will guarantee an exchange within as little as 25 days.
If it does not hit target, it will either refund the fee or not charge it in the first place.
The new service has been created by David Jabbari, Dan Watkins and Claus Werner, who describe themselves as legal services entrepreneurs.
Muve says it will be the first conveyancing service to guarantee an exchange, and that it will keep prices competitive.
It is also offering a partnership model to estate agents, with a technology platform to take care of tasks such as ID and anti-money laundering checks.
Muve CEO Jabbari said that it will pay agents referral fees at the top end of the scale, of up to £600, on the basis that agents follow the regulator’s advice on displaying such revenue.
He said: “We have a really detailed way of calculating the target exchange time based on features of the transaction, and then we will suffer increasing penalties, in terms of refunding/not charging the fee, if we do not hit that target.
Steve Thomas, client relations director at Muve, said: “We have a rapidly growing number of estate agents, large and small, joining out partnership programme to benefit from the fast commissions and reduced costs that we can deliver.”
Comments (12)
This is an exciting proposition and I am keen to see how it develops.
Most of the critique here sits around the nature of variables that are currently faced and how they act as major obstacles to most.
This product has been designed to put a clear focus on those variables by offering an enhanced service where speed is the priority- without compromising on delivery. Almost every client I speak to on a daily basis wants to be in their new home as quick as is feasibly possible. If speed is a priority- why shouldn’t the offering be this one?
I think what people are wilfully forgetting here is as with any major, disruptive and, frankly, groundbreaking proposal- there has been months of meticulous calculation, testing and research done to make it an attractive but realistic offering.
I’m excited to see the progress made.
This is an unfortunate article for numerous reasons. Firstly, the start up stated isn’t such at all. David Jabbari is simply rebranding Connect2Law which (we all know amongst the community) to be something of a farce.
Realistically, this is unethical. Clients are to be lured into the idea that such an exchange can be guaranteed. When, anyone worth a penny in conveyancing, knows it’s almost impossible to guarantee anything. Essentially, you’re asking them to pay an exceptional premium and hope. And, if unsuccessful, feel cheated and pay a reduced rate. This is hardly a groundbreaking model but moreover one that reeks of a business suffering financially.
To feed into estate agency referral fee culture is also quite disgusting. Already, we constantly battle to ensure agents aren’t taking advantage of folk but these chaps seem to want to endorse such.
Its short sighted and very bizarre. There must be caveats coming left right and centre for the obscure matters or leasehold discrepancy.
On a more personal note, I don’t hold hope for this company as my dealings with its predecessor have been horrific. Outsourcing to Sri Lanka, consistently delivering a poor product, the highest turnover in lawyers I have ever seen… it all contributes to the farce that is this very suggestion.
MUVE/Connect2Law, whatever you want to be… I would advise nailing the basics before you dithers about fuelling already provocative aspects of the industry. There’s a lot you currently fall short on without any complications!
We already target 4 week exchanges on all transactions, to the delight of the agents we work with….as do many other law firms.
As for this article, I would be asking:
1. Will the conveyancers used have an actual law degree?
2. Is it really a ‘guarantee to exchange’ as you cannot control another law firm’s pace….or is it in fact a ‘guarantee not to charge’…..and only IF ‘ we fail to be ready to exchange but for another party preventing us from actually exchanging’
3. Complicated titles/unregistered titles, leasehold – I am curious what the fine print will say for those (do they come at a higher price/excluded from the service etc
4. A actual guarantee of that pace, not just a target, would worry me that issues would be glossed over to still meet the timescale
Sadly, the issue with conveyancing in E&Wales at the moment is the quality of the actual conveyancer. It is the worst I have seen in 30 years. You can badge the office cleaner and set them to work as a conveyancer…and with zero regulation. This venture – as described in the article above – reveals nothing to address that. Instead it sounds as though the relevant conveyancers will now be pressured with less time….so I would not want to be a client paying for that.
Instead I’d want different and multiple guarantees:
1. the total price stated, will be the total price at the end
2. they promise to use conveyancers with an actual law degree or 15 years conveyancing experience
3. they are an actual solicitors firm
4. they have CQS and LEXCEL Law Society accreditations
If you don’t get all 4 – I would tell friends and family to walk away.
I’m in agreement here.
Let me be frank- this business are no good at delivering the basics. I know (for a fact) that some of their ‘lawyers’ in their Sri Lankan outfit have NO legal experience. Blessed be Commonwealth Law!
A law degree does not a good Solicitor make. There must be, somewhere within these factory firms, some qualified people but that experience hardly means those Companies provide a better service?
In fact I myself am not qualified and I can state categorically in over thirty years I could count on one hand the number of qualified conveyancers I have come across who are close to being as good at this job as I am. Furthermore the conveyancers who I would say have been closest to my capabilities, and I have respected for their skills, have all been unqualified. Qualifications prove only that someone can pass exams.
Not a criticism or a defence of the types of firm we all love to hate, just an observation based on years of struggling to do this job in such a difficult environment.
Oh, and the scheme mentioned here will never work.
Hi Alan
I very much agree with you. There is far more needed than marks on a piece of paper to indicate calibre and ability.
What concerns me most with this firm- and many others- are the extents they are prepared to go to conceal their frightening reality. I have been the other side for perhaps ten transactions now where I speak to someone with no grasp of the language. Who misinforms me and indeed their own client. I spent a good ten minutes explaining a Deed of Variation to a poor girl as she hadn’t a semblance of a clue.
I became tempted to invoice them for my work!
not sure whats worse, someone promising 25 days to exchange or advertising a £600 referral fee when the tenant fee ban is now in place because of the same agents who were ripping of their clients for extortionate fee’s.
This is crazy speak and has a short shelf life unfortunately, but so do the agents who sign up for those amounts.
A short shelf life indeed for a company already amidst downfall. One of the more laughed at failure firms.
Wow! 25 days! With the current average time to buy/sell a property running at 125 days this could make a real difference if they ge the finances right – good luck to you!
And no chain?
Any small print?
I was just thinking to myself, what the industry REALLY needs now more than ever is higher referral fees and lower prices.
Really good to see Connect2Law (sorry Ros but its not a fresh new startup) step into the breach with this new offering to meet this need.
I do hope this works. What with top end referral fees of £600.00 and increasing penalties if the timescale target is not hit, Muve could end up running at a loss!