My fiance and I are hoping to buy a home in Breaston and are in fact using a Breaston conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Virgin Money have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Breaston lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender. 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 solicitor 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Breaston solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We note that you have a post code search directory identifying firms on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. Do companies pay you a referral fee if I appoint them for our conveyancing in Breaston?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Co-operative conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Breaston.
My wife and I have recently appointed a conveyancing solicitor in Breaston. I I would like to check whether they are accepted on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Can you advise?
The first thing you should do is phone the lawyer and ask them whether they can act for the bank. Otherwise you can call Bank of Ireland who may be able to help.
We are purchasing a property in Breaston. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a solicitor? On completion day we will need to send funds into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our deposit?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
I am assisting my mother sell her house in Breaston. Will the conveyancer order an energy performance certificate or do I organise this?
After the abolition of Home Packs, energy assessments was maintained a required part of moving property. An energy performance certificate must be commissioned in advance of the property being put on the market. This is not a task that law firms ordinarily arrange. Where you are using a Breaston conveyancing solicitor they may be willing to arrange EPC’s given their contacts with long established local providers
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Breaston conveyancing practitioner having checked that they are on the Co-operative conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Co-operative will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Co-operative will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Breaston surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
I have been told that property searches are a common reason for obstruction in Breaston house deals. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published findings of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the common causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Searches are not likely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Breaston.
In my capacity as executor for the will of my aunt I am selling a residence in Monmouth but I am based in Breaston. My conveyancer (based 260 miles from mehas requested that I sign a stat dec before completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing solicitor in Breaston to witness and place their company stamp on the document?
strictly speaking you are not likely to be required to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally any notary public or qualified solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are based in Breaston