My wife and I are looking to buy a home in Penn and have instructed a Penn conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Halifax have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Penn conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 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 as you are at liberty to use your preferred Penn lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We see that you have a search directory identifying solicitors on the Santander conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I retain them for our conveyancing in Penn?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Santander conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Penn.
We are expecting a mortgage offer soon. The bank mentioned the home loan came with free conveyancing. Is the implication that I have to use their panel conveyancer as I would prefer to appoint a high street conveyancing solicitor in Penn?
You should check but the chances are that give you one of their panel solicitors should you accept the "fee-free" incentive. Contact the mortgage company and ask if they offer you a cash alternative. Some lenders have previously offered a £250 cashback as an alternative in which case that money can go towards the cost for your conveyancing solicitor in Penn.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Santander, do Penn solicitors face a fee to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are unaware of any lender fees to register on their panel, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
I am expecting a OIP from RBS this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do RBS recommend any Penn solicitors on the RBS conveyancing panel, or is it better to go independently?
You will need to appoint Penn solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the RBS conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and RBS through the process.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with UBS. I assume I don't need a Penn conveyancing practitioner on the UBS panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your UBS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the UBS mortgage from the register. UBS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where UBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- UBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I have recentlyfound out that Stirling Law have been shut down. They conducted my conveyancing in Penn for a purchase of a freehold house 18 months ago. How can I establish that the property is registered correctly in the name of the former proprietor?
The quickest method to see if the property is in your name, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Penn conveyancing specialists.
My estate agent has recommended their conveyancing practitioner for the conveyancing in Penn - won’t it be advisable to just use them?
It is worth checking if the estate agent is recommending a solicitor or introducing to a solicitor. There are plenty of Penn estate agents who recommend two or three Penn conveyancing firms and get nothing from it.