Professional Negligence: Conveyancers On Both Sides Of A Property Purchase Found Liable To A Defrauded Buyer

In Purrunsing v. A'Court & Co (a firm) and House Owners Conveyancers Limited (2016) EWHC 789 (Ch) Judge Pelling QC in the Chancery Division of the High Court held that both the buyer's and seller's conveyancing solicitors were jointly liable to the Claimant buyer for a breach of trust arising out of a property fraud, for which they were not entitled to relief under Section 61 Trustee Act 1925 (a statutory provision that enables the Court to relieve a trustee of liability in certain circumstances). This is an important decision because this is one of the few occasions where a seller's conveyancing solicitor, who does not usually owe any duty of care to a buyer, has been found to be liable to the buyer in circumstances where the seller's solicitors have not been dishonest.

Facts of the case

The Claimant buyer (Mr Purrunsing) purported to purchase a property from a seller who later turned out to be a fraudster and not the true owner of the property. By the time the fraud was discovered the buyer's money had been paid away to the fraudster.

The buyer brought a claim against both the seller's solicitors (A'Court & Co) and buyer's solicitors (House Owners Conveyancers Limited) for breach of...