I am one month into the sale of my flat in Seaham and the estate agent has just text me to say that the purchasers are changing their property lawyer. The excuse is that the bank will only work with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major lender only deal with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Seaham ?
Lenders have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for more than 25 years.
Banks point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some 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 purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
Having sold my house in Seaham last August but the buyer keeps e-mailing me to moan that her conveyancer is waiting to hear from mylawyer. What are the post completion sale legalities following completion?
Post completion of your sale your solicitor should send the transfer deeds and all of the paperwork to the buyer’s conveyancer. Where appropriate, your conveyancer must also send confirmation that the legal charge in favour of the lender has been paid off to the purchasers lawyers. There are no post completion requirements peculiar conveyancing in Seaham.
I have been told that property searches are a common cause of hinderance in Seaham conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the findings of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the common causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are unlikely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Seaham.
The deeds to my home can not be found. The conveyancers who did the conveyancing in Seaham 10 years ago have long since closed. What do I do?
These day there are copies made of almost everything, and your lawyer should know exactly where to locate all the suitable documentation so you may purchase or dispose of your house without any difficulty. If duplicates are not available, your lawyer can arrange cover in the form of insurance or indemnities against future claims on your premises.
How does conveyancing in Seaham differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Seaham approach us having been asked by the housebuilder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is ready to move into. This is because new home sellers in Seaham tend to buy the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Seaham or who has acted in the same development.
My partner and I have AIP from Bank of Ireland who indicated that they will lend up to £350k. When do we need to instruct a solicitor for conveyancing? Seaham is where we are purchasing.
You can appoint a solicitor now requesting that they create a file on your behalf. This will kickstart: 1) the estate agent to issue a Sales Memo to all parties 2) the seller’s solicitor to send out the draft paperwork. That being said, do not ask your conveyancing practitioner to start searches until you have your valuation report from Bank of Ireland and you are happy to move forward.