The issue of errant lawyers has been widely debated for the past few weeks since the publishing of the names of errant lawyers in the newspapers. We at the The National Consumer Complaints Center (NCCC) ourselves had continued to receive complaints from the public on negligent lawyers. Common area of complaint includes delay in completing sale and purchase transactions. Many consumers end up paying interest to developers for delay which is at no fault of theirs. In most of the cases the lawyers and banks will not take the responsibility over such cases and the blame game would start. The common time limit allowed to complete a normal house purchase transaction is 2+1 and if this timing is inadequate, the Bar ouncil must seek avenues to have it extended. Until now we don't see and effords from the Bar Council. The Bar Council should look into this matter immediately as consumers are not allowed to choose their own lawyers.
The other common area of greviance is the charging of excessibve contingency fee. It is well known fact that there are lawyer's who charge as high as 40% in contingency fee and this is excluding the 10% which is paid by the insurance company as cost. The Legal Profession Etique Rules clearly forbids the charging of contingency fees but this has been going on right under the nose of the Bar Council and poor consumers are being abused. The NCCC agree's that the charging of contingency help's poor consumers in obtaining legal representation and therefore the Bar Council should legalise and regulate the charging of contingency fee so that consumers are not shortchanged. If they can control discounts on fee's, then why can't the Bar Council regulate this area as well.
We see that the Bar Council is more interested in issues which does not need urgent attention and by doing so it neglegts bread and butter issues. He NCCC hopes that the Bar Council is more pro-active is adressing issues which affects the consumers at large.
The other common area of greviance is the charging of excessibve contingency fee. It is well known fact that there are lawyer's who charge as high as 40% in contingency fee and this is excluding the 10% which is paid by the insurance company as cost. The Legal Profession Etique Rules clearly forbids the charging of contingency fees but this has been going on right under the nose of the Bar Council and poor consumers are being abused. The NCCC agree's that the charging of contingency help's poor consumers in obtaining legal representation and therefore the Bar Council should legalise and regulate the charging of contingency fee so that consumers are not shortchanged. If they can control discounts on fee's, then why can't the Bar Council regulate this area as well.
We see that the Bar Council is more interested in issues which does not need urgent attention and by doing so it neglegts bread and butter issues. He NCCC hopes that the Bar Council is more pro-active is adressing issues which affects the consumers at large.
4 comments:
Hi, NCCC. is there any action that consumers take if the developers delay in signing the S&P by giving al sorts of silly excuses? in fact the consumers have signed the agreement and paid the 10% down payment?
It is wrong for the developers to postpone signing the s&p. Once the 10% downpayment has been paid the s&p should be immediately signed. Developers normally delay so that they can buy time. The statutory delivery time for landed property is 24 months and 36 months for high rise buildings and time starts running from the signing date of the s&p. If the developers delay in delivering the property within the specified time then they will be liable to pay late delivery penalty. Therefore by delaying signing the s&p, they are actually buying time. Make sure you keep the 10% payment receipt and please lodge a complaint to NCCC. In this case the lawyers seem to be assisting the developer in delaying the signing. Insist that the s&p is dated according to the 10% down payment receipt.
Hi, thanks for the reply. What if the developer insist not to back date the S&P? Once the s&p stamped, is there anything else the buyer can do?
Lodge a complaint with NCCC and we will assist you. Make sure you dont sign the s&p if they are not back dating.
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