Are you borrowing money or being a guarantor for someone borrowing money? You will more than likely be asked to obtain a Solicitor’s Certificate. 

There is a common misconception that all that is involved with a Solicitor’s Certificate is obtaining the signature of a lawyer.  Unfortunately, there is a lot more involved in this process.

A solicitor’s certificate involves a lawyer reviewing loan documentation and providing thorough advice to you on the loan documents so that you can make a more informed decision on whether the loan offer is suitable to you.  Our lawyers must provide this advice to you and go over this advice with you to ensure you completely understand what you are agreeing to, before they will provide you with this certificate.

In the event a lawyer provides a Solicitor’s Certificate to you but fails to provide you with the thorough advice and you then default on the loan, the Solicitor can be found liable for failing to provide you with informed advice before you signed the loan agreements.

When our firm undertakes a Solicitor’s Certificate, our lawyers take the time to thoroughly read through the documentation and provide you with comprehensive written advice which you must read before coming in to sign the Certificate.  Our lawyers will highlight to you any areas of concern so that you are aware of what to expect. This is not something we can complete in one day.

We often have people saying that they can obtain a Solicitor’s Certificate cheaply, however when you go for a ‘cheap’ option, you are not provided with the comprehensive advice to make informed decisions.  Borrowing large amounts of money or guaranteeing loans can be a big risk, and it is, in our view, negligent to try to save a small amount of money now but risk your financial future in the long term.

We have experienced clients declining to accept loan offers or proceeding with guaranteeing loans after having received our comprehensive advice as they were not aware of the risk or repercussions that they would be placed under by doing so. Spending that bit of money to receive sound advice actually saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is one of those areas of law that you really do get what you pay for.

If you need to obtain a Solicitors Certificate, contact our office today.