I am nearing exchange of contracts for my ground floor flat in Gillingham and the EA has just text me to say that the buyers are appointing a new conveyancer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the bank will only engage with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major lender only engage with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Gillingham ?
Lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.
Lenders point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The buyers are not going to have any sway in the decision.
I am under pressure from the executor of a property in Gillingham to sign contracts within four weeks. What can I do to quicken up the legal process?
In a situation where the seller is applying pressure for your conveyancing it is advisable to make sure that your solicitor is familiar with the area as they will make use of local connections and intelligence. It is even conceivable that they may have transacted previoushomes in the same road. You would be best advised to use a Gillingham conveyancing solicitor. Second, check that the lawyer is on the lender panel. It is believed that nearly one in five of Gillingham conveyancing transactions are held up or derailed after discovering a buyer’s lawyer was not on their mortgage lender’s member panel. In many cases this discovery resulted in the conveyancing being held up by almost 21 days. It is understood that this issue affects in the region of 100,000 home sales every year. Most Gillingham conveyancing firms can not represent certain lenders so do check at the outset.
we are a couple who decided to purchase a newbuild apartment in Gillingham with a loan from Nationwide Building Society.We like our Gillingham conveyancing solicitor but Nationwide Building Society informed us she’s not on their "panel". we are left little option but to use a Nationwide Building Society panel firm or keep our high street solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you contains terms and conditions, one of which will be that solicitors must be on the Nationwide Building Society conveyancing panel. Until recently, most banks had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could find one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Nationwide Building Society
We had selected conveyancing lawyers based in Gillingham on the Santander solicitor panel. They are now charging me a further sum for the legal aspects of the Santander mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Santander?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your solicitor can charge a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Santander but by your Gillingham solicitor. Some firms on the Santander panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
I had a mortgage agreed in principle with Co-operative. Gillingham conveyancing lawyers were instructed. How long does it take for Co-operative to issue the offer to the conveyancer?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Co-operative conducted the valuation? Have you informed Co-operative as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Co-operative conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
I have instructed a Gillingham conveyancing practitioner having checked that they are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Nationwide will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nationwide 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 Gillingham 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.
My husband and I are four weeks into a freehold purchase having been directed to a firm by the estate agent to handle our conveyancing in Gillingham. I am am starting to be disappointed with the quality of service. Could you you assist me in finding new solicitors?
A conveyancer would have to be really poor in order to consider diss instructing them. Has your mortgage offer been generated? If so you will need to make them aware of the new contact details and get the mortgage documents are re-sent. Your solicitor ideally needs to be on the lenders panel to avoid added fees and delays. So that should be your starting point. Our find a solicitor tool can help you find a bank approved lawyer for your conveyancing in Gillingham
Our lender agreed in principle to issue us a mortgage. We instructed a reputable conveyancer in Gillingham two days ago. Today, our broker phoned to advise us that the bank said that we cannot use our solicitor as they aren't on their panel. As FTB's, we had no idea that the lender had a say Is this usual?
You are permitted to select any conveyencer you prefer to choose for your conveyancing in Gillingham however if your bank aren't happy with them you must fork out an extra fee so the mortgage company can appoint their own conveyancer too. On occasion it is possible your solicitor may apply to get added to the mortgage company list of approved firms. You can use internet search facilities such as lenderpanel.com to find a conveyancing solcitor in Gillingham on the bank panel. You can go into your local bank branch in Gillingham. They will know some good conveyancing solicitors in Gillingham on the approved list.