AI-generated complaints are slowing conveyancing, warns law firm

Homebuyers who use artificial intelligence to draft complaints and questions are creating extra work and delays for conveyancers, a law firm has warned.

RG Law says its clients are increasingly relying on AI to generate lengthy lists of questions, often without the full context of their transaction, forcing conveyancers to stop and correct assumptions before they can move a purchase forward.

The warning comes as the Legal Ombudsman’s latest data shows residential conveyancing remains the most complained-about area of legal practice, accounting for 36% of all complaints accepted.

Conveyancing complaints rose 41% year-on-year, with poor communication, delays and failure to progress among the most common concerns.

Leasehold delays

RG Law says the problem is particularly acute in leasehold transactions, where key information may be outstanding from managing agents, freeholders or the seller’s solicitors.

It said that in one case, a buyer used AI to draft a complaint demanding outstanding information within seven days and threatening to withdraw from the purchase.

The correspondence took no account of the property being leasehold, or that the draft contract pack had only arrived nine weeks earlier.

Meanwhile, another client submitted questions on fire-safety works, asbestos, reserve funds and future costs. Some had already been addressed in reports provided to the buyer, while other information was still outstanding from the seller’s side.

The difficulty is that AI does not understand the complete history of the transaction or which party is responsible for providing information.”

Loren Ringshall, Conveyancing Case Manager at RG Law, says: “It is understandable that clients may use AI to help formulate questions. The difficulty is that AI does not understand the complete history of the transaction or which party is responsible for providing information.”

She adds: “It can produce a response that sounds authoritative, but is based on assumptions, general information or an incomplete picture of the case.”

Ringshall says the issue is not that buyers ask questions, but that AI can turn reasonable concerns into demands that don’t match the progress of an individual transaction.

She says: “When we receive a lengthy list of AI-generated questions, each point must be checked against the file and answered accurately.

“That can involve revisiting reports, reviewing previous correspondence and contacting other parties, taking time away from the next stage of the transaction.”

Ringshall warns there is also a cost implication where AI-generated correspondence creates work that would not otherwise have been necessary.

AI declaration

It follows a separate ruling by The Property Ombudsman ruling out having to declare if consumers have used AI in their complaints.

The Ombudsman’s Lesley Horton said its rulebook governs agents rather than the people complaining about them.

“The Property Ombudsman’s Codes set standards for property agents, not consumers, so we would not seek to require complainants to declare whether they have used AI,” she said.

“Nor should legitimate complaints face unnecessary barriers.”