The Shepshed conveyancing solicitors that just started acting on my house acquisition in Shepshed have suddenly closed. I only went with them because I had to have a firm on the Santander conveyancing panel and my family Shepshed lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take one hundred and fifty pounds for searches. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Santander conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers may be able to help.
Is it the case that all Shepshed CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the TSB conveyancing panel?
It is true that some banks and building societies now use CQS as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitor practices wishing to remain on their panels.
I was told three weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Yorkshire BS. Is it usual for Yorkshire BS to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Shepshed is approved on their conveyancing panel? Yorkshire BS have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their Professional Indemnity Insurance Schedule.
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Yorkshire BS to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
RBS have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a property in Shepshed has been agreed to, what are the next steps?
The property agent will need to be advised as to your conveyancing practitioner's details (make sure the conveyancing practitioners are on the lender’s panel). Telephone RBS or your financial adviser and finalise any appropriate forms. RBS will appoint a valuer who will get in contact with the selling agent or vendor to schedule a slot for the valuation to take place. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes approximately ten days for the mortgage offer to be issued. RBS will send the offer to you and your property lawyers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Shepshed.
Will my solicitor be making enquiries regarding flooding during the conveyancing in Shepshed.
Flooding is a growing risk for solicitors specialising in conveyancing in Shepshed. Some people will purchase a house in Shepshed, completely aware that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate building insurance, or dispose of the property. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Conveyancers are not qualified to give advice on flood risk, however there are a various searches that can be carried out by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which will figure out the risks in Shepshed. The standard completed inquiry forms sent to a purchaser’s solicitor (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) incorporates a usual question of the owner to discover if the premises has historically flooded. In the event that flooding has previously occurred which is not disclosed by the seller, then a purchaser could commence a claim for damages stemming from an incorrect response. The buyer’s conveyancers should also conduct an enviro search. This should disclose if there is a recorded flood risk. If so, more detailed investigations should be made.
I have justdiscovered that Action Conveyancing have closed. They conducted my conveyancing in Shepshed for a purchase of a leasehold flat 9 months ago. How can I be sure that my home is not still registered in the name of the former proprietor?
The easiest way to check if the premises is in your name, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Shepshed conveyancing specialists.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on two weeks back in what should have been a simple, chain free conveyancing. Shepshed is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Shepshed are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Shepshed you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Shepshed may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
My son is about to join the property ladder, he had his mortgage in principle. After the seller agreed the offer on the house we contacted the bank to progress the mortgage application. I was very surprised to hear that banks do not accept all solicitor, they have to be on a list, is this right?
Banks ordinarily restrict either the type or the number of conveyancing solicitors on their panel. Typical examples of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that banks have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Shepshed conveyancing practitioner on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Probably not.