My husband and I are refinancing our apartment in Morganstown with UBS. We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the UBS conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise his rights to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your UBS conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to UBS. This is solely used to protect UBS if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of UBS had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
It is is a decade since I bought my house in Morganstown. Conveyancing lawyers have just been instructed on the sale but I am unable to track down the title documents. Is this a problem?
Don’t worry too much. Firstly there is a chance that the deeds will be kept by your mortgage company or they could be in the possession of the solicitor who oversaw the purchase. Secondly the likelihood is that the land will be registered at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing lawyers obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. Most conveyancing in Morganstown relates to registered property but in the rare situation where your property is not registered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
I can not fathom if my bank obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called my Morganstown building society branch on numerous occasions and was told it does not impact the mortgage offer and they would lend. My Morganstown conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- called to say that they refuse to lend in accordance with their published requirements. Who do I believe?
As long as the conveyancer is on the mortgage company panel, she or he must comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook requirements for the bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the bank 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 mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.
I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in Morganstown. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their lawyer. I paid an upfront payment of £225. Not long after, the property lawyer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Bank of Ireland panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
Lloyds have agreed my home loan in principle, my bid on a apartment in Morganstown has been accepted, what happens next?
The property agent will need to know who your solicitors are (make sure the solicitors are on the bank’s approved list). Telephone Lloyds or the broker and finish off any relevant forms. Lloyds will appoint a valuer who will get in contact with the estate agent or seller to book a slot for the valuation to occur. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a fortnight for the mortgage offer to be issued. Lloyds will issue the offer to you and your property lawyers. The legal work will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Morganstown.
How does conveyancing in Morganstown differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Morganstown come to us having been asked by the developer to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is constructed. This is because builders in Morganstown tend to buy the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Morganstown or who has acted in the same development.
I have been on the look out for a ground for flat up to £235,500 and identified one close by in Morganstown I like with open areas and railway links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 49 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Morganstown in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake buying a short lease?
Should you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be a potential deal breaker. Discount the price by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. You can add 90 years to the existing lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this.
I am looking for a conveyancing lawyer in Morganstown for my house move. Can I see a solicitor's record with the legal regulator?
One may review published Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions stemming from inquisitions from 2008 onwards. Go to Check a solicitor's record. For details Pre 2008, or to check a firm's record, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 any week day save for Tuesday when lines open at 9.30am. International callers, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA could monitor call for training reasons.