My wife and I are looking to acquire a flat in Peak District and are in fact using a Peak District conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. The Royal Bank of Scotland have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Peak District lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor 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 solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Peak District lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Is there a reason why leasehold purchase conveyancing in Peak District costs more?
Peak District leasehold conveyancing transactions usually involve additional investigations than freeholds including investigating the Lease, liaising with the Landlord such as serving appropriate notices on the Landlord or managing agent, obtaining up-to-date service charge and management information, obtaining Landlord’s consents and reviewing management accounts and formation documents.
We previously selected conveyancing lawyers with offices in Peak District on the Skipton solicitor approved list. They have just invoiced me a supplemental fee for dealing with the Skipton mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by Skipton?
Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your conveyancing practitioner is entitled to charge a fee for this. The charge is not set by Skipton but by your Peak District lawyer. Some firms on the Skipton panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Peak District. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Almost all banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are sorted out very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
I have instructed a Peak District property lawyer having made sure that they are on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Bank of Ireland will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Bank of Ireland will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your conveyancer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Peak District postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Bank of Ireland, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Peak District.
I used Arc property Solicitors several years ago for my conveyancing in Peak District. I now require my papers but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Peak District of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
How do I identify a Peak District law firm on the TSB conveyancing panel? I drive a motor bike and am prepared to travel upto 25miles to meet the solicitor.
You can use the tool on this website. Please select a bank and your location and you will see a number of Peak District conveyancing lawyers locally. We have listed some Peak District conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can call them to verify if they are on the TSB approved list
I am using a search engine for the words cheap conveyancing in Peak District it reveals numerous property lawyersin the vicinity. With so much choice what is the best way to find the right solicitor for the sale of my house?
The ideal way of seeking a suitable conveyancer is through a personal recommendation, so seek the opinion of colleagues and relatives who have bought a property in Peak District or the respected estate agent or financial adviser. Costs for conveyancing in Peak District differ, so it's sensible to secure a minimum of three quotes from different solicitors. Make sure that you clarify what costs in the quote includes.