My husband and I are hoping to purchase a home in Becontree and have instructed a Becontree conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Barclays Direct have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Becontree solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Becontree solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My partner and I are refinancing our apartment in Becontree with Clydesdale. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the Clydesdale conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Clydesdale conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Clydesdale. This is solely used to protect Clydesdale if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Clydesdale had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
When will exchange of contracts occur in residential conveyancing in Becontree and am I required to attend the solicitors office?
Where you are local to one of the conveyancing solicitors in Becontree you are welcome to come in to sign contracts. However, the firms we work with offer a national conveyancing service and give just as comprehensive and professional a job for you when dealing with you digitally. The signing of the purchase agreement is not the important part. Signing on the dotted line is necessary for the firm to address the formalities when the time is right, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The procedure is is usually a five minute process, although where an extended "chain" is in the mix, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Becontree)to be in the office at the appropriate time.
Please explain the implications if my solicitor is suspended from the Nottingham Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Becontree?
The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
In what way can the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 impact my business premises in Becontree and how can your lawyers assist?
The 1954 Act gives a safeguard to commercial leaseholders, giving them the a statutory right to apply to court for a continuation of occupancy at the end of the lease term. There are certain specified grounds where a landlord can refrain from granting a lease renewal and the rules are complex. We are happy to direct you to commercial conveyancing practices who use the act to your advantage and assist with commercial conveyancing in Becontree
I need to find a conveyancing solicitor for purchase conveyancing in Becontree. I happened to discover a site which appears to be the ideal answer If it is possible to get all formalities done via phone that would be ideal. Do I need to be concerned? What should out be looking out for?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?
