My husband and I are acquiring a new build flat in Allenton and my solicitor is advising me that she is duty bound to the bank to disclose incentives from the developer. I am on a tight deadline to exchange contracts and I have no desire to prolong the conveyancing. Is my lawyer right?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your property lawyer. A precondition to being on a lender panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
My Solicitor in Allenton is not on the Birmingham Midshires Solicitor Panel. Can I still continue with my prefered solicitor notwithstanding that they are excluded from the Birmingham Midshires approved list?
The limited options open to you here include:
- Carry on with your existing Allenton lawyers but Birmingham Midshires will need to retain a conveyancer on their panel. This will result in additional total legal fees as well as cause delays.
- Get a new solicitor to act in the conveyancing, obviously checking they are on the Birmingham Midshires panel
I have justdiscovered that Arc property Solicitors have closed. They carried out my conveyancing in Allenton for a purchase of a freehold house 18 months ago. How can I establish that my home is registered correctly in the name of the former proprietor?
The quickest way to see if the premises is in your name, you can make 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 Allenton conveyancing specialists.
I opted to have a survey done on a house in Allenton ahead of instructing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. The surveyor has said that some lenders tend not issue a loan on this type of property.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Santander has different instructions from Nationwide. Should you wish to telephone us we can check with the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Allenton. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
I was pointed in your direction by two or three local estate agents in Allenton to select a conveyancer using your seach tool. What’s the financial advantage for Estate Agents to offer your lawyers over and above a competitor’s?
We refuse to give any referral fee for directing people in our direction. We found it would be just too difficult a fee because members of the public would think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
I need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer in Allenton for my home move. Is there any facility to see a solicitor's record with the legal regulator?
You can read presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions resulting from investigations commenced on or after 1 January 2008. Go to Check a solicitor's record. To find records about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a firm's history, call 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 any week day save for Tuesday when lines open at 9.30am. International callers, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator sometimes recorded telephone calls for training purposes.