I am nearing exchange of contracts for my ground floor flat in Retford and the estate agent has just text me to warn that the purchasers are appointing a new law firm. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only engage with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a leading lender only deal with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Retford ?
Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in recent years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for many years.
Lenders blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices 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. The buyers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.
My husband and I are purchasing a newly constructed flat in Retford and my conveyancer is advising me that she has to the bank to reveal incentives from the builder. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to sign contracts and I don't want to delay the conveyancing. Is my lawyer right?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your property lawyer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
My husband and I are purchasing a newly converted flat in Retford with a homeloan from Coventry Building Society.We like our Retford conveyancing lawyer but Coventry Building Society informed us his firm is not listed on their approved list of member firms. We have to appoint a Coventry Building Society panel solicitor or retain our preferred solicitor and fork out for one of their panel ones to act for them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The home loan offered to you contains various provisions, one of which will be that conveyancers needs to be on the Coventry Building Society approved list. in the past, most mortgage companies had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Coventry Building Society
I am close to exchanging contracts on the sale of our home in Retford and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a risk of it being constructed on contaminated land. A local conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the buyers are using a web based conveyancing practice as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Retford. Having lived in Retford for three years we know of no issue. Do we get in touch with our local Authority to seek confirmation that there is no issue.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm already. What do they say? You need to enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same ailment)
I have recentlydiscovered that Stirling Law have been shut down. They conducted my conveyancing in Retford for a purchase of a leasehold flat 18 months ago. How can I be sure that my home is not still registered in the name of the previous owner?
The easiest method to check if the property is registered to you, you can make 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 Retford conveyancing specialists.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Retford with a loan from Halifax. The sellers refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of additionals instead. The house builders rep advised me not reveal to my solicitor about the deal as it may impact my loan with Halifax. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.