My wife and I are planning to purchase a property in Locks Heath and are in fact using a Locks Heath conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. The Royal Bank of Scotland have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Locks Heath solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 bank 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Locks Heath solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
At what point will exchange of contracts take place for sale conveyancing in Locks Heath and am I required to be at the lawyers office?
If you are in close proximity to one of the conveyancing solicitors in Locks Heath you are invited in to sign the paperwork. That being said, the law practices we work with supply a nationwide conveyancing service and provide just as diligent and professional a job for you when communicating with you by post or email. The signing of the property agreement is not the point of no return. A signed contract simply enables the solicitor to address the formalities at the appropriate time, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The exchange process is is usually a five minute process, although where a lengthy "chain" is in play, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Locks Heath)to be in the office at the appropriate time.
I have been told that property searches are a common cause of delay in Locks Heath house deals. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Searches are not likely to be the root cause of delay in conveyancing in Locks Heath.
five months have gone by following my purchase conveyancing in Locks Heath took place. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £200,000 when infact I paid £160,000. 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 residence 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.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a house I put an offer in two weeks back in what should have been a simple, chain free conveyancing. Locks Heath is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Locks Heath are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Locks Heath you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Locks Heath may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold property.
As co-executor for the will of my aunt I am disposing of a property in Neath but live in Locks Heath. My conveyancer (based 260 kilometers awayneeds me to execute a stat dec prior to the transaction finalising. Could you suggest a conveyancing lawyer in Locks Heath to witness this legal document for me?
Technically speaking you are unlikely to need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily or notary public or solicitor will do regardless of whether they are Locks Heath based