Is the fact that my solicitor in Henlow is not identified on my bank's solicitor panel that there is a problem with the standard of her conveyancing?
It would not be wise to jump to that conclusion. There are plenty of reasonable explanations. A recent report by the solicitors regulator revealed 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) lack of transactions (2) the lawyer 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 simply call the Henlow conveyancing practice and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for your bank.
We are selling our flat in Henlow. Does the solicitor need to be on the HSBC conveyancing panel in order to deal with the discharge of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the HSBC 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 panel criteria fairly frequently in recent years.
I appreciate that there are debates on Chancel Insurance on online forums. Do I require this when buying a property in Henlow? or I am told that there is an ancient law that means some owners of property residing in a parish church boundary will be compelled to pay for maintenance to the chancel in proximity to the church. Is this a legitimate concern for conveyancing in Henlow?
Unless a previous acquisition of the property completed after 12 October 2013 you could take it that conveyancing practitioners delivering conveyancing in Henlow to continue to propose a a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
I was pointed in your direction by numerous property agents in Henlow to choose a conveyancer using your seach tool. What’s the financial incentive for Estate Agents to offer your lawyers over and above another?
We refuse to make any referral fee for pointing buyers and sellers in our direction. We found it would be just too difficult a fee as home movers will think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
We're FTB’s - agreed a price, yet the selling agent told us that the owners will only proceed if we appoint their recommended lawyers as they want a ‘quick sale’. Our preferred option is to instruct a family solicitor accustomed to conveyancing in Henlow
We suspect that the owner is not behind this demand. If they want ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated purchaser is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Try to communicate with the vendors directly and explain that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to progress, with finances in place © you do not need to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you are going to use your own,trusted Henlow conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will provide their negotiator at the agency a commission or hit his conveyancing thresholds demanded by HQ.
Do I stop my mortgage payments with Principality as soon as a completion date for my sale in Henlow has been set?
You would be well advised to maintain paying any mortgage sums to Principality until the mortgage is discharged out of the proceeds of sale as part of your Henlow conveyancing.