We were just about to sign contracts for a ground floor flat in Downend. We encountered a snag. Our loan offer with The Mortgage Works expires on 17/9/2021 but the owners are suggesting a completion date of 21/9/2021. Is it possible to prolong the loan expiry date?
The best person to address this question is your solicitors who will assess whether they better off negotiating with the mortgage broker, vendor’s conveyancers, selling agents or possibly all parties given the history of your conveyancing to date.
Do I need to have a meeting at the offices of the solicitor to sign the mortgage deed? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in Downend so that I can attend their offices when needed.
As opposed to ten years ago, almost all lenders no longer need their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the borrowers signature. It will still be necessary for you to hand over identification documents and there are still distinct benefits to instructing a locally based ayer, in your case a conveyancing solicitor in Downend.
I am planning to move house in October. Will my conveyancing solicitor liaise with the removal company on the day of completion. Incidentally, can you suggest a removal company in Downend. Conveyancing firm was chosen before I stumbled across this page.
On the afternoon of completion you will need to pick up the keys from the estate agent however this should only be done when the vendors lawyers inform the agent that they acknowledge receipt of the completion payment and the keys can be collected. You should inform the removal company that you are ready to move in. We do not recommend a particular removal company but can assist you in locating a residential property solicitor in Downend or a lawyer that specialises in conveyancing in Downend.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as RBS, do Downend solicitors face an annual charge to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are not aware of any mortgage company fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
I had an offer accepted on an apartment in Downend on 28/5/2021, valuation was booked 4 days later, received a clean bill of health. Conveyancer retained, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to HSBC and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the HSBC conveyancing panel. Are HSBC entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?
A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for HSBC to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the HSBC conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
My partner and I are selling our property in Downend and according to the buyers it appears that there is a possibility that the property was constructed land that was not decontaminated. A local lawyer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the buyers used a web based conveyancing outfit rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Downend. We have lived in Downend for three years we know of no issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to seek confirmation need.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. What do they say? You need to enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same ailment)
The deeds to my house are lost. The conveyancers who did the conveyancing in Downend 4 years ago are no longer around. What do I do?
You no longer need to hold title deeds to establish that you are the registered proprietor of land or premises, given that the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.
My husband and I are purchasing a 2 bedroom flat in Downend. When we first instructed lawyer, they said that they were on all mainstream mortgage company panels. The financial adviser emailed yesterday to say that they don't seem to be on the HSBC approved list. Should that be true, what should we do? Do we simply find a different solicitor that is on their approved list or do we cover the costs for dual representation, with HSBC selecting their own preferred conveyancing practitioner.
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is standard for the purchaser’s lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a lawyer has to be on that lender's list of approved lawyers. An application has to be made by the solicitor to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict conditions which the solicitor has to meet. Some lenders now insist their panel firms to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your conveyancer should call HSBC to find out 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 HSBC's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Downend solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.