I am in the process of selling my house in Sherston and the estate agent has just telephoned to warn that the buyers are switching solicitor. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a major mortgage company only work with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Sherston ?
Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, 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 over 25 years.
Banks point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms 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 purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
As someone with no idea as to conveyancing in Sherston what’s your top tip you can impart for the legal transfer of property in Sherston
Not many law firms or advisers will tell you this but conveyancing in Sherston or throughout England and Wales is an adversarial process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there exists an abundance of opportunity for confrontation between you and other parties involved in the legal transfer of property. For example, the vendor, selling agent and sometimes your mortgage company. Selecting a solicitor for your conveyancing in Sherston is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the SOLE party in the transaction whose role it is to look after your best interests and to keep you safe.
We are witnessing a definite emergence in the "blame" culture- someone has to be at fault for the process being so protracted. You your first instinct should be to trust your solicitor ahead of the other players when it comes to the legal assignment of property.
We previously appointed conveyancers with offices in Sherston on the Yorkshire BS solicitor panel. They have just billed me a separate amount for handling the Yorkshire BS mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Yorkshire BS?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your conveyancer is entitled to levy a fee for this. The charge is not set by Yorkshire BS but by your Sherston conveyancer. Plenty of firms on the Yorkshire BS panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but plenty of practices incorporate it on their overall fee.
I currently have a mortgage with Lloyds for my property in Sherston. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Lloyds?
Lloyds must be informed of your intention in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Lloyds’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Lloyds will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Lloyds directly. You need not do this via a Lloyds conveyancing panel solicitor.
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Sherston. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
Most banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
I used Action Conveyancing several years past for my conveyancing in Sherston. Now, I need the documents but the law firm has closed. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Sherston of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Taking into account that I will soon spend £400,000 on a terraced house in Sherston I wish to have a conversation with the solicitor regarding thehome move before giving the go ahead to the firm. Is this something that you can arrange?
Absolutely - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the solicitor who will be doing your conveyancing in Sherston.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is an important individual, not a matter reference. The practices that we put you in touch with believe that the fees you are quoted for your conveyancing in Sherston should be the figure that you end up paying.
How much experience do your Sherston conveyancing solicitors have with Help To Buy, Shared Equity and similar schemes?
Sherston conveyancing lawyers help thousands of buyers move home every year and supported lots of clients through the Help To Buy scheme. The chances are that whatever makes your case unique Sherston conveyancers have worked on recent similar cases.