The South Croydon conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in South Croydon have suddenly shut down. I chose them because I needed a lawyer on the TSB conveyancing panel and my preferred South Croydon lawyer was not. I sent them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the TSB conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help.
The mortgage over my property is with Aldermore for my property in South Croydon. Conveyancing was finalised 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 Aldermore?
Aldermore must be informed of your intention in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Aldermore’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Aldermore will permit you to let 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 Aldermore directly. You need not do this via a Aldermore conveyancing panel lawyer.
Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in South Croydon. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How do I make a complaint?
All banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Team at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in South Croydon. My financial adviser suggested a conveyancing practitioner. I paid an on account payment of £150. Shortly after, the solicitor contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Virgin Money panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
What can a local search reveal about the property my wife and I buying in South Croydon?
South Croydon conveyancing often commences with the submitting local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company for instance PSG The local search plays an important role in many a South Croydon conveyancing purchase; as long as you wish to avoid any unpleasant once you have moved into your new home. The search should provide data on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen subject sections.
I'm converting the mortgage on my current property to a BTL mortgage with Halifax and I will use the ballance of the raised equity towards further house. The location we are interested in is South Croydon. Will your conveyancers be able to act for the two lenders and link together the two deals?
Make use of our search tool on this page to be sure that the lawyers are approved by both lenders. Assuming that they are the lawyer should be able to connect the two deals but you should have a chat with you conveyancer and specify your desired outcome and needs.
My uncle has encouraged me to use his lawyers for conveyancing in South Croydon. Should I use them?
There are no two ways about it it’s preferable to find a conveyancing solicitor is to seek guidance from friends or relatives who have actually experience in using the conveyancer you're considering.
Your search tool is useful but there are many lawyers listed near South Croydon being on the bank conveyancing panel. Can you recommend a specific firm on the conveyancing panel for our bank?
We do not recommend specific South Croydon firms as the right South Croydon conveyancing solicitor for you depends on where your priorities lie. For example you may require a local firm with South Croydon knowledge or you might be looking for the low cost conveyancing. We recommend that you speak to 3 or 4 lawyers listed before you make your choice..