I am in the process of selling my apartment in Grays and the EA has just e-mailed to say that the purchasers are swapping law firm. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a major lender only engage with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Grays ?
Lenders have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the last few years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 25 years.
Mortgage companies point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. 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 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. Your buyers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
Can the conveyancing solicitors that are recommend conduct auction conveyancing in Grays?
We know of a number of niche lawyers we can put you in touch with those conducting auction conveyancing. Grays is just one of our areas of in which our lawyers have offices.
What is the difference between a licensed conveyancer and conveyancing solicitor in Grays
There are many registered licenced Conveyancers in Grays and Solicitor firms in Grays who can assist with your conveyancing It is important to make clear that the two are supervised by regulatory bodies with both specialising in the legal work in the home buying process. They may both also deal with associated property related work such as remortgage conveyancing, enfranchisement and transfer of equity conveyancing.
I have paid off my mortgage with Bank of Ireland. I assume I don't need a Grays conveyancing practitioner on the Bank of Ireland panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Bank of Ireland mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Bank of Ireland mortgage from the register. Bank of Ireland, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Bank of Ireland has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Bank of Ireland has instructed the Land Registry to do so
It is unclear whether my mortgage offer obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called into my local Grays building society branch on a couple of occasions and was told it does not impact the mortgage offer and they will lend. My Grays conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- telephoned to say that they refuse to lend in accordance with their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. Who do I believe?
As long as the conveyancer is on the mortgage company approved list, they must comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook specifications for the bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
I used Arc property Solicitors several years past for my conveyancing in Grays. I now require my papers however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Grays of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I need to find a conveyancing solicitor for remortgage conveyancing in Grays. I've discover a web site which appears to be the ideal answer If it is possible to get all this stuff completed via phone that would be ideal. Do I need to be wary? What are the potential pitfalls?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?
I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Grays. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.
Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Grays - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
Following years of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Grays. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
Where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to decide the premium.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Grays property is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case was in relation to 13 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 76 years.