My fiance and I are hoping to acquire a home in St Ives and are in fact using a St Ives conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Santander have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our St Ives solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your bank 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own St Ives solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
My wife and I are getting closer to an exchange on a house in St Ives and my parents have sent the 10% deposit to my solicitor. I am now advised that as the deposit has been sent from someone other than me my lawyer needs to disclose this to my bank. I am advised that, in also acting for the mortgage company he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I advised the bank about my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really appropriate for this now to delay the deal?
The conveyancing practitioner is legally required to clarify with the bank to make sure that they understand that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. Your solicitor can only reveal this to your lender if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
Me and my partner are buying a flat in St Ives. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a lawyer? On completion day we will need to deposit funds into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our monies?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
Is it the case that all St Ives solicitors on the TSB conveyancing panel are governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the TSB approved list of solicitors they would need to be governed by the SRA. The majority of mortgage companies do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be overseen by the CLC.
I can not work out if my mortgage offer requires a lease extension. I have telephoned my St Ives building society branch on a couple of occasions and was advised it wasn't a problem and they will lend. My St Ives conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- called and was told they refuse to lend based on their specific requirements. I have no idea who is right.
Provided that the solicitor is on the mortgage company approved list, they must comply with the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook provisions for the bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years left on the lease.
It has been 4 months since my purchase conveyancing in St Ives completed. I have checked the Land Registry site which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £170,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
What does commercial conveyancing in St Ives cover?
Commercial conveyancing in St Ives covers a broad array of advice, supplied by regulated solicitors, relating to business property. By way of example, this area of conveyancing can cover the sale or purchase of freehold business premises or, more usually, the assignment of existing leases or the drafting of new leasing arrangements. Commercial conveyancing solicitors can also offer advice on the sale of business assets, commercial loans and the termination of leases.
In my capacity as executor for the estate of my uncle I am disposing of a house in Cardiff but live in St Ives. My lawyer (approximately 200 kilometers from merequires that I sign a stat dec ahead of completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing lawyer in St Ives who can attest this legal document for me?
Technically speaking you are unlikely to need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily or notary public or solicitor will do regardless of whether they are located in St Ives