I have just been advised by my mortgage adviser that my New Barnet the law firm I have appointed is not on the bank Solicitor panel. How can I be certain that this is indeed the case?
Your first step should be to contact your New Barnet lawyer directly. You lawyer should notify you what has happened. If they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the conveyancing panel for your mortgage company.
The housing market in New Barnet is hotting up. What can I do to hasten the conveyancing process?
First, If you are under pressure for your conveyancing we would recommend that your lawyer is familiar with the location as they will have local connections and insight. It is possible that they would have handled previoushouses in the same street. Therefore consider using a New Barnet conveyancing firm. In addition, check that the lawyer is on the lender panel. It is believed that just under twenty per cent of New Barnet conveyancing deals are delayed or derailed after discovering a buyer’s lawyer was not on their banks list of approved solicitors. This can often result in the transaction being held up by as much as three weeks. It is said that this issue impacts in the region of one hundred thousand home sales every year. Many New Barnet conveyancing practices can not represent certain banks so do check as early as possible.
It is 10 years ago since I bought my home in New Barnet. Conveyancing lawyers have just been retained on the sale but I can't locate the deeds. Is this a problem?
You need not be too concerned. Firstly the deeds may be with the mortgage company or they could be in the possession of the solicitor who acted in the purchase. Secondly in most cases the land will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you are the registered owner by your conveyancing solicitors obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. Nearly all conveyancing in New Barnet involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is unregistered it adds to the complexity but is not insurmountable.
Are the BSA planning on creating a searchable register to list law firms on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel for example in New Barnet?
We would not expect to be advised of any plans on the part of the BSA to promote such a search facility.
My partner and I are planning on selling our house in New Barnet and according to the buyers it appears that there is a risk of it being constructed land that was not decontaminated. Any local lawyer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the purchasers are using a nationwide conveyancing firm as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in New Barnet. We have lived in New Barnet for 5 years we know of no issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to obtain confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm currently acting for you. Are they able to advise? You must enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same illness)
A licensed conveyancer acted on my conveyancing in New Barnet half a dozen years ago having stored my registration documents but has since been shut down – What can I do to get hold of them?
Deeds, as such, are no longer appropriate for the majority of properties in New Barnet are archived electronically at Land Registry. Should you need to show ownership or are disposing of or re-mortgaging your conveyancing practitioner can obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.
If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned with reasonable haste.