My fiance and I are hoping to buy a property in Locks Heath and are in fact using a Locks Heath conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Birmingham Midshires have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Locks Heath lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Locks Heath lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
All was ready to complete my purchase in Locks Heath next Monday. I have now been asked to send a copy of my building insurance schedule by my solicitor as as she informs me that she is duty bound to validate that it is in order for the mortgage company. What does the insurance need to cover?
All property lawyers on acting for mortgage companies would need to check that the following risks are covered fire; lightning; aircraft; explosion; earthquake; storm; flood; escape of water or oil; riot; malicious damage; theft or attempted theft; falling trees and branches and aerials; subsidence; heave;landslip;collision;accidental damage to underground services;professional fees, demolition and site clearance costs; and public liability to anyone else. There are some other issues such as the level of excess that are set out in a lender’s UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook instructions. These requirements are not specific to conveyancing in Locks Heath.
Having sold my house in Locks Heath last April yet the purchaser is SMS messaging me complaining that their solicitor needs to hear from mine. What should my lawyer have done following completion?
Following your disposal your conveyancer is obliged to forward the transfer documentation and all of the paperwork to the purchaser's conveyancer. If applicable, your conveyancer must also send confirmation that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been paid off to the buyers conveyancers. There are no post completion procedures peculiar conveyancing in Locks Heath.
My Solicitor in Locks Heath is not on the Skipton Building Society Approved Panel. Can I still continue with my family solicitor even though they are not on the Skipton Building Society panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
The limited options available to you here include:
- Carry on with your existing Locks Heath lawyers but Skipton Building Society will need to instruct a lawyer on their list of acceptable firms. This will inevitably rack up the overall conveyancing charges as well as cause frustration.
- Choose an alternative lawyer to to deal with the conveyancing, not forgetting to check they are Skipton Building Society approved.
- Persuade your Skipton Building Society solicitor to try to join the Skipton Building Society panel
I have justbeen informed that Arc property Solicitors have been shut down. They conducted my conveyancing in Locks Heath for a purchase of a leasehold apartment 10 months ago. How can I establish that the property is not still registered in the name of the previous owner?
The easiest way to see if the property is registered to you, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Locks Heath conveyancing specialists.
I have checked your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the lender approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?
Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the lender conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the lender solicitor panel.