Am I correct in assuming that the fact that my conveyancer in Caerphilly is not listed on my mortgage company's conveyancing panel that there is a problem with the standard of the firm’s conveyancing?
That would most likely be a wrong assumption to make. There are plenty of reasonable explanations. A recent report by the solicitors regulator indicated that over three quarters of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The top 5 reasons are as follows: (1) low volume of transactions (2) the solicitor is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. Should you be concerned you should contact the Caerphilly conveyancing practice and enquire why they are no longer on the approved list for your mortgage company.
We are purchasing a flat and require a conveyancing solicitor in Caerphilly who is on the TSB approved panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a conveyancing firm?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for TSB . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Caerphilly.
My house in Caerphilly is up for sale and I have accepted an offer. Does my lawyer need to be required to be on the Principality conveyancing panel in order to deal with the discharge of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Principality conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their specifications fairly frequently at the moment.
I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property in Caerphilly off the council. I have a mortgage agreed with TSB. Conveyancing is not something I have any knowledge of. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?
It is not advisable to proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event, if you are getting a mortgage with TSB, you will need to appoint a solicitor on the TSB conveyancing panel.
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Caerphilly. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I would like to complain about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Most lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Caerphilly. My financial adviser suggested a lawyer. I paid an upfront payment of £225. Shortly after, the conveyancing practitioner contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Principality conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Principality panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
Various web forums that I have frequented warn that are the main cause of obstruction in Caerphilly house deals. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the top 10 causes of hindrances in the conveyancing process. Searches are unlikely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Caerphilly.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my house are lost. The solicitors who handled the conveyancing in Caerphilly 4 years ago are no longer around. What do I do?
Assuming you have a registered title the information relating to your ownership will be documented by the Land Registry with a Title Number. It is possible to execute a search at the Land Registry, identify your property and secure current copies of the property title for less than a fiver. Where the title is Leasehold then the Land Registry will usually retain a file duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be retrieved for twenty pounds.