My aunt passed away 10 months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Limbury. The house had a small mortgage left on it of around £4500. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Kent Reliance, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
Given you intend to refinance then Kent Reliance will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Kent Reliance conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Kent Reliance mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
I have paid off my mortgage with HSBC. I assume I don't need a Limbury property lawyer on the HSBC panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your HSBC 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 HSBC mortgage from the register. HSBC, 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 HSBC has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- HSBC has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The mortgage over my property is with Leeds Building Society for my property in Limbury. Conveyancing was finalised months ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Leeds Building Society?
You must advise Leeds Building Society in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Leeds Building Society’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Leeds Building Society directly. You need not do this via a Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel solicitor.
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Limbury. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I would like to complain about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
Most lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are sorted out very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
2 months have gone by since my purchase conveyancing in Limbury completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the premises from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Limbury prior to retaining lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. My surveyor has said that some mortgage companies may refuse to grant a mortgage on a flying freehold home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. Should you wish to call us we can check with the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Limbury. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Limbury especially if they are familiar with such properties in Limbury.
Am I better off to appoint a Limbury conveyancing practitioner who is local to the property I am buying? I have an old university friend who can execute the conveyancing but his firm is located 200kilometers drive away.
The primary upside of using a high street Limbury conveyancing practice is that you can drop in to execute paperwork, present your ID and pester them if necessary. They will also have local intelligence which is a plus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who used your friend and in the main were content that must surpass using an unknown Limbury conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being round the corner.
What can I do where I am not happy with the conveyancing practitioner who handled our conveyancing in Limbury?
Occasionally the level of service you receive is not as you expect, and unfortunately occasionally things do go wrong. That being said there is recourse where you were not happy with your conveyancing in Limbury. This varies from trying to resolve matters directly with them, through to reporting a conveyancer to their governing body. If things still aren’t sorted out you may consider getting in touch with the Legal Ombudsman.