My husband and I are hoping to purchase a property in Sevenoaks and have appointed a Sevenoaks conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Halifax have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Sevenoaks solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is standard 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Sevenoaks lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Sevenoaks? What am I being asked for?
In order to comply with Money Laundering Regulations any Sevenoaks conveyancing firm will require proof of identity in all conveyancing transactions. This is usually dealt with by provision of a passport and an original bank statement or utility account evidencing your correct address.
In accordance with Money Laundering Regulations, property lawyers are obliged by law to check not just the ID of conveyancing clients but also the origin of fund that they receive in respect of any matter. Refusal to disclose this will result in your conveyancer cancelling their retainer with you, as clearly this will cause a conflict between the set Regulations and a refusal to disclose.
Your conveyancers are duty bound to notify the relevant authorities should they consider that any monies received by them may contravene the Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules.
We're in Sevenoaks, First timers purchasing with a mortgage (lender is Leeds Building Society , and our lawyer is on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancing practitioner should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
Various web forums that I have come across warn that are the primary reason for delay in Sevenoaks conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the findings of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the common causes of delays in the conveyancing process. Searches are not likely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Sevenoaks.
I am purchasing my first flat in Sevenoaks with a loan from Clydesdale. The builders refused to budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The house builders rep told me not disclose to my solicitor about this extras as it will jeopardize my mortgage with the bank. Is this normal?.
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.
My fiance and I are planning to purchase a four room flatin Sevenoaks with a loan from a lender. We have a conveyancer in Sevenoaks however our bank advise he's not approved on their "panel". It seems we have little choice but to instruct from the our lender panel solicitors or stay with our Sevenoaks conveyancer and incur the extra costs for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that our bank use our Sevenoaks lawyer?
Unfortunately,no. The lender mortgage offered to you is subject to conditions, one of which will be that solicitors will on the mortgage company's conveyancing panel. Until recently, most banks had large numbers of law firms on their panels, including many conveyancing solicitors in Sevenoaks : a mortgagee 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. Another option that might be available is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for your mortgage company.