I am progressing with the sale of my flat in Gloucester and the EA has just called to advise that the buyers are swapping law firm. The reason given is that the lender will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a leading mortgage company only deal with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Gloucester ?
Banks have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as HSBC, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 15 years.
Banks blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say 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. Some do not even realise 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 impact on this.
I am buying a house without a mortgage in Gloucester. I have resided for the last Seventeen years in Gloucester. Conveyancing searches are exorbitant. As I know the area and road intimately must I have all the conveyancing searches?
In the absence of a home loan, then all but one or two of the Gloucester conveyancing searches are at your discretion. Your conveyancer will 'advise', perhaps strongly, that you should have searches done, but she is duty bound to do this. Do consider; if you are going to dispose of the house in the future, it may be of interest to your future buyer what the searches reveal. Sometimes houses with functional issues can still throw up unfavourable search results. A competent conveyancing solicitor in Gloucester will provide you some constructive guidance concerning this.
My property lawyer in Gloucester has never been on on the Britannia Solicitor Panel. Is it possible for me to retain my prefered solicitor even though they are excluded from the Britannia panel?
Your options are as follows:
- Carry on with your existing Gloucester lawyers but Britannia will need to use a conveyancer on their panel. This will result in additional total conveyancing fees as well as result in delays.
- Find an alternative lawyer to act in the purchase, remembering to check they are on the Britannia panel
This question may be naive but I am unseasoned as a 1st time buyer of a two bedroom flat in Gloucester. Do I pick up the keys to the property on completion from my lawyer? If so, I will instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in Gloucester?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the completion advance to the owner’s conveyancers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you will be able to pick up the keys from the property Agents and start moving into the property. Usually this happens early afternoon.
Please help - my lawyer says that breach of easement insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the level of cover for Gloucester conveyancing?
The appropriate level of breach of easement indemnity insurance should be dictated by who who your lender is. It would differ for example between Santander and The Mortgage Works. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to members of the public take out such policies.
I was told four weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Aldermore. Is it usual for Aldermore to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Gloucester is approved on their conveyancing panel? Aldermore have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their Professional Indemnity Insurance Schedule.
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Aldermore to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Aldermore conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
My husband and I are FTB’s - agreed a price, but the estate agent informed us that the owners will only issue a contract if we appoint the agent's preferred solicitors as they want an ‘expedited deal’. Our preferred option is to instruct a local solicitor accustomed to conveyancing in Gloucester
We suspect that the owner is not behind this requirement. If they require ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a serious purchaser is counter productive. Contact the owners directly and explain that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to progress, with mortgage lined up © you have nothing to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you intend to instruct your own,trusted Gloucester conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will give their negotiator at the agency a commission or achieve conveyancing thresholds demanded by HQ.
Me and my wife are disposing of a Gloucester property left to us ten years ago in 2010. I have over 15 years conveyancing experience and, although retired, intend to carry out my own conveyancing. The purchaser's lawyer has informed me that their building society will not allow you to do your own conveyancing insisting the funds to be transferred to a solicitor's bank account.
Lending instructions to conveyancing practitioners from all mainstream lenders specify that If the seller is not legally represented the borrower's lawyers should check whether the mortgage company needs to be told so that a decision can be made as to whether they are prepared to move forward.