I am hoping to receive a mortgage with Santander. I intend to retain the legal services of a Licensed Conveyancer in Porthleven. Does the Santander Solicitor panel include conveyancers regulated by the CLC?
The Santander conveyancing panel is, like many other lenders, represented by the Council or Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the CLC.
My wife and I swapping mortgage lender for our flat in Porthleven with HSBC. We have a son approaching twenty who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this document specific to the HSBC conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his entitlement to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong 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 HSBC. This is solely used to protect HSBC 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 HSBC 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.
I am considering refinancing my house in Porthleven, does my lawyer have to be on the Co-operative Conveyancing panel?
In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on the Co-operative conveyancing panel, but Co-operative would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same transaction.
Various internet forums that I have frequented warn that are the primary reason for stalling in Porthleven conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Searches are unlikely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Porthleven.
I was recommended by a number of selling agents in Porthleven to choose a conveyancer using your seach tool. Is there a financial incentive for Estate Agents to recommend your site rather than a competitor’s?
We refuse to give any referral fee for sending work in our direction. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission because members of the public would think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
How and when do I cover the costs of stamp duty due for my house transaction in Porthleven?
Most solicitors tend to complete a Land Transaction Return Form for you during your Porthleven conveyancing transaction for signature. On completion your conveyancing practitioner will submit your Land Transaction application to the Tax Authorities and - as long as they have the funds - settle any land tax due for you.