My mortgage broker has asked me for my St James's solicitor’s panel member for the Nationwide conveyancing panel. What is the best way to discover this. I have e-mailed my local St James's office but they don't know it.
The sensible thing to do is ask for this information from your St James's conveyancer . Most St James's conveyancing firms will retain a file or database of lender panel information which would include, if applicable, their conveyancing panel details for each lender.
Last April we completed a house move in St James's. We have since encountered a number of problems with the house which we consider were missed in the conveyancing searches. Is there anything we can do? What searches should? have been ordered as part of conveyancing in St James's?
It is not clear from the question as to the nature of the problems and if they are relate to conveyancing in St James's. Conveyancing searches and investigations undertaken during the buying process are supposed to help avoid problems. As part of the legal transfer of property, the vendor fills in a questionnaire referred to as a Seller’s Property Information Form. answers proves to be inaccurate, then you may have a claim against the owner for any losses that you have suffered. The survey should have identified any problems with the structure of the property. Assuming a detailed survey was carried out and the issues were not identified, you may have a claim against the surveyor. However, if you did not have a full survey, you may be responsible for fixing any defects that have now been noted. We would always encourage buyers to take every possible step to ensure they are completely aware of the condition of a property before purchase regardless of whether they are buying in St James's.
How up to date is your database of St James's solicitors on the Santander conveyancing panel? Do Santander send you an updated list?
St James's conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Santander conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Santander directly.
We wanted to use a conveyancing solicitor in St James's for our house move. Our broker informed us that our bank Nottingham Building Society won't deal with them. Surely this is unduly restrictive?
Lenders ordinarily restrict either the category or the amount of conveyancing practices on their member panel. A common example of such criteria being that a firm must not be a sole practitioner. In addition to restricting the type of firm, a few banks have limited the amount of solicitor practices they use to act for them. Be aware that Nottingham Building Society have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Nottingham Building Society Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the reduction of conveyancing panels since 2008 even though there are mixed opinions regarding the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry indicate that thousands of law firms, including some in or near St James's only perform one or two conveyances per annum.
I used Stirling Law several years ago for my conveyancing in St James's. I now require my papers however the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate 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 St James's of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Am I best advised to choose a St James's conveyancing practitioner based in the vicinity that I am hoping to buy? An old friend can carry out the conveyancing but her office is over three hundred miles away.
The benefit of a high street St James's conveyancing firm is that you can pop in to execute paperwork, present your ID and pester them where appropriate. Having local St James's know how is a benefit. That being said nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If if people you trust instructed your friend and on the whole were content that must trump using an unfamiliar St James's conveyancing solicitor just because they are local.