My fiance and I are planning to buy a flat in Bacup and are in fact using a Bacup conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Barclays Direct have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Bacup solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Bacup solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Our god-son is purchasing a new build apartment in Bacup with a home loan from RBS. His solicitor has said that there is a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?
The document is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the RBS conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the RBS conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
We see that you have a search directory identifying law firms on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Do companies pay you a referral fee if I appoint them for our own conveyancing in Bacup?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Barclays conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Bacup.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Nationwide, do Bacup lawyers have to pay a fee to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are unaware of any lender fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
I have paid off my mortgage with HSBC. I assume I don't need a Bacup conveyancing practitioner on the HSBC panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your HSBC mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the HSBC mortgage from the register. HSBC, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where HSBC has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- HSBC has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Intending to buy a apartment in Bacup. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Bacup conveyancer is on the Co-operative conveyancing panel.
I need some fast conveyancing in Bacup as I have pressure to exchange contracts within 2 weeks. Luckily I do not require a mortgage. Is it possible to decline from having conveyancing searches to save money and time?
If.Given you are are a mortgage free purchaser you have the choice not to have searches conducted although no lawyer would advise that you don't. With plenty of history conveyancing in Bacup the following are instances of issues that can arise and therefore affect future mortgageability: Refused Planning Applications, Overdue Charges, Outstanding Grants, Unadopted Roads,...
Me and my brother own a renovated Victorian property in Bacup. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and The Royal Bank of Scotland. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same address. Is it worth asking The Royal Bank of Scotland to clarify?
You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Bacup and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the purchase.