*Updated 17 November 2020*
In order to comply with current Government guidance and to exercise recommended practice to protect our staff and our clients from COVID-19, we have now closed our offices to the public and for the time being our staff are working from home where possible.
Whilst calls are being forwarded, we would ask that all communications be dealt with by email wherever possible. Please email the fee-earner or team dealing with your matter directly.
We would like to assure all our clients that Levi Solicitors LLP are trying to minimise any disruption to the provision of Legal Services as a consequence of the constantly evolving rules, regulations, limitations imposed by the Government to combat COVID-19 and to protect the public and the NHS.
Exchange of contracts and completion
An exchange of contracts is a legal commitment to complete the transaction on a specified date (or a date to be dictated by the builder in the case of a new build property).
In view of the current COVID-19 situation, we recommend that you consider exchanging and completing contracts on the same day to minimise the possibility of you breaching the contract. We are aware that this is not ideal as you will have no certainty that your transaction will complete on the proposed completion date and any party could change their mind at any time and you would not be able to compel that party to proceed on the anticipated completion date – if you then need to cancel removals or other arrangements and incur any losses, no compensation will be available.
However, we believe you will potentially be at greater risk if you exchange contracts with a completion date set at some point in the future, it is possible that you may fall into breach of contract if you are unable to complete on the contractual completion date even if this is due to something outside of your control (for example:- the whole country is put into full lock-down, you are in quarantine, you cannot make removal arrangements or the banks are unable to transfer money). You could be liable for costs, compensation and damages for everyone in the chain, you could lose your deposit (if you are a purchaser) or you could even end up homeless.
Please note however that in order for a transaction to proceed, there are still certain documents such as the contract, transfer, lease and other deeds where we would still require the original signed documents with the “wet signature” to be in our possession to enable us to proceed. However, the provision of these documents to us may prove difficult as some of these documents will require you to sign in front of an independent witness (not a family member) who will also need to sign and print their name and address. This may be difficult to achieve if you are to maintain social distancing and to avoid any unnecessary travel in accordance with the Governments requirements.
Contact us
While our offices are closed, our telephone lines and emails are still operational. Please contact your conveyancing team by email in the first instance. If you have a general enquiry, you can contact us at info@levisolicitors.co.uk or on 0800 988 7756.
