My wife and I are planning to buy a house in Prescot and are in fact using a Prescot conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Lloyds TSB Bank have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Prescot lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender 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 lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Prescot solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am in a contract race with another buyer for a property in Prescot. What can I do to speed up the buying process?
Where the seller is applying time constraints for your conveyancing it is advisable to make sure that your solicitor is familiar with the area as they will benefit local connections and insight. It is possible that they may have handled previoushomes in the same neighbourhood. Therefore consider using a Prescot conveyancing solicitor. In addition, double check that the conveyancing firm is on the on the approved list for your mortgage company. It is estimated that 18% of Prescot conveyancing transactions are held up or derailed after discovering a buyer’s lawyer was not on their mortgage lender’s member panel. In many cases this discovery resulted in the legal transfer of property being frustrated by almost three weeks. It is estimated that this issue affects in the region of one hundred thousand home moves annually. Many Prescot conveyancing firms can not act for certain lenders so do check at the outset.
In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Prescot? Why is this being asked of me?
To satisfy the Money Laundering Regulations any Prescot conveyancing firm will require proof of identity in all conveyancing matters. This is normally satisfied by provision of a passport and an original bank statement or utility account evidencing your correct address.
Under Money Laundering Regulations, conveyancers are obliged by law to validate not just the ID of conveyancing clients but also the source of fund that they receive in respect of any matter. Refusal to disclose this may result in your solicitor terminating their retainer with you, as clearly this will cause a conflict between the set Regulations and a refusal to disclose.
Your property lawyers will have an obligation to make a disclosure to the relevant authorities should they consider that any amounts received by them may contravene the Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules.
Just acquired a detached house in Prescot , how long should it take for the Land Registry to register my proprietorship? My Prescot conveyancing solicitor has been very slow, so I want to be certain that my name is recorded.
As far as conveyancing in Prescot registration is no faster or slower than the rest of England and Wales. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timeframes can differ according to who lodges the application, whether it is in order and if the Land registry communicate with any other persons or bodies. At present approximately three quarters of such applications are completed within 12 days but some can be subject to extensive hold-ups. Registration occurs once the new owner is living at the property therefore an expedited registration is not usually an essential issue yet where it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your lawyers should speak with the land registry and explain the circumstances.
I work for a long established estate agent office in Prescot where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Prescot conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.
Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
Prescot Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing
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Does the lease include onerous restrictions? Best to be warned whether redecorating or some other major work is due in the foreseeable future that will be shared by the leaseholders and will materially increase the the maintenance costs or require a one off invoice. The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the leaseholders enjoy control and even though a managing agent is frequently employed if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants.
Why do Prescot conveyancing fees differ for leasehold and freehold properties?
Inevitably there is more work involved for leasehold conveyancing. Prescot has many leasehold properties. There is more hours involved in the purchase: for example, the lease and leasehold information (including up to date service charge, ground rent and buildings insurance details) obtained from the freeholder or managing agents. There are strict criteria that the lease must meet in order to be acceptable to a mortgage company. If it does not meet these requirements, the lease must be amended, which can involve additional expense for the seller.