I am in the process of selling my house in Niton and the EA has just e-mailed to say that the buyers are appointing a new solicitor. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only deal with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a leading lender only work with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Niton ?
Banks have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, but in the past few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 15 years.
Banks point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.
Do the conveyancing practitioners highlighted via your ’find a lawyer’ tool carry out right to buy conveyancing in Niton?
We do have a number of conveyancing solicitors carrying out right to buy transactions You should call us to obtain a costs illustration.
The Niton conveyancing firm that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Niton have without warning closed. They were on acting for me because I had to have a lawyer on the RBS conveyancing panel and my previous Niton lawyer was not. I issued them a cheque for £250 in advance. What are my options?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the RBS conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers may be able to assist.
Will our lawyer be raising enquiries concerning flooding during the conveyancing in Niton.
Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers dealing with homes in Niton. There are those who acquire a house in Niton, completely expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical damage, if a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or sell the premises. There are steps that can be taken during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Solicitors are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous checks that can be initiated by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which should give them a better understanding of the risks in Niton. The standard property information forms given to a buyer’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) incorporates a usual inquiry of the owner to determine whether the premises has historically flooded. If flooding has previously occurred which is not revealed by the owner, then a purchaser may issue a claim for damages resulting from an inaccurate response. A buyer’s lawyers may also commission an enviro report. This will indicate whether there is any known flood risk. If so, additional investigations will need to be initiated.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to my home can not be found. The lawyers who conducted the conveyancing in Niton 4 years ago have long since closed. What do I do?
You no longer need to have the physical deeds to establish that you are the registered proprietor of land or premises, given that the Land Registry hold details of all registered land or property electronically.
I have been Googling for Niton online conveyancing estimates. Can I be confident that all the Niton law firms that are listed on your site are on the bank conveyancing panel?
The law firms on our directory have assured us via an online form that they are on the bank panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the mortgage company panel. To date we have not been informed by either a mortgage company or a member of the public that the data about a specific Niton firm being on the lender conveyancing panel is incorrect.