I am selling my flat in St Albans and the EA has just text me to say that the buyers are changing their solicitor. The excuse is that the bank will only engage with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a leading lender only work with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in St Albans ?
Banks have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in recent 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 15 years.
Lending institutions attribute this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – 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 hearing daily from firms 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. Your buyers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
As someone not used to the St Albans conveyancing process what’s the number one tip you can impart concerning the ownership transfer in St Albans
Not many law firms shout this from the rooftops but conveyancing in St Albans or throughout England and Wales is an adversarial process. Put another way, when it comes to conveyancing there is an abundance of opportunity for conflict between you and other parties involved in the ownership transfer. E.g., the seller, property agent and sometimes a lender. Selecting a solicitor for your conveyancing in St Albans is a critical decision as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONLY person in the legal process whose responsibility is to look after your legal interests and to protect you.
There is a worrying ongoing adversarial element to conveyancing- someone must be blamed for the process taking so long. You your first instinct should be to trust your conveyancer ahead of all other parties in the conveyancing process.
My conveyancer has informed me that chancel insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the level of cover for St Albans conveyancing?
The right level of chancel indemnity insurance depends on your lender. It would differ for example between Barclays and Barnsley Building Society. Conveyancing solicitors as opposed to members of the public take out such policies.
After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in St Albans. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £150. A couple of days later, the solicitor called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Aldermore 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 Aldermore 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.
Planning on purchasing a maisonette in St Albans. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the HSBC conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the St Albans lawyer is on the HSBC conveyancing panel.
I need some quick conveyancing in St Albans as I am faced with an ultimatum to exchange contracts in less than 2 weeks. A home loan is not required. Can I escape the need for conveyancing searches to save fees and time?
If.Given you are are a mortgage free buyer you have the choice not to do searches although no conveyancer would suggest that you don't. With lots of history conveyancing in St Albans the following are examples of issues that can arise and adversely impact the marketability of the property: Refused Planning Applications, Overdue Charges, Outstanding Grants, Railway Schemes,...
I have a terraced Victorian property in St Albans. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: one for freehold, the second leasehold with the exact same address. Is it worth asking Norwich and Peterborough Building Society to clarify?
You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in St Albans and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing lawyer who carried out the work.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what should have been a quick, chain free conveyancing. St Albans is the location of the property. Is there any advice you can give?
Flying freeholds in St Albans are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in St Albans you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in St Albans may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.