I am selling my apartment in St Margarets and the EA has just e-mailed to advise that the purchasers are changing their conveyancer. The excuse is that the lender will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a leading lender only deal with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in St Margarets ?
Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 15 years.
Mortgage companies point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. 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. Plenty of firms do not even realise 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 sway in the decision.
Can your site be used to recommend a Conveyancing solicitor in St Margarets even where I’m not purchasing or selling a house, for example where I intend to buy an office in St Margarets with a mortgage from Skipton Building Society?
Our comparison service is predominantly utilised to get a quote from domestic conveyancing solicitors in St Margarets but we have listed at the end of this page a selection of St Margarets commercial conveyancing firms. You should make contact with the solicitors directly to establish if they can also act for Skipton Building Society
Please explain the implications if my lawyer’s firm is suspended from the Skipton Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in St Margarets?
The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
Have just purchased a probate house at auction in St Margarets. Conveyancing is necessary. What is next?
Now that you are to in every practical sense signed on the dotted line you should choose a conveyancing lawyer quickly as you now have a pending a fixed date to complete the property. All auction property should have a corresponding auction pack. This will likely include most,if not all of the documents that your conveyancer requires. In the case of leasehold premises the conveyancing pack may provide a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing documentation specific to a leasehold property. You need to pass this on to your appointed conveyancing solicitor as soon as possible. You also need to ensure that you have funds in order to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
I am the single recipient of my late mum's estate and I have everything in my name now, including the my former home in St Margarets. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in December. I plan to dispose of the property. I do know about the CML six month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship may be considered the same way as if I'd bought the property in December. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The CML handbook mandates solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you might be affected by that. How sensible a view banks take of it, depend on the bank as this obligation primarily exists to pick up on the purchase and immediately sell or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.
We had instructed conveyancing lawyers with offices in St Margarets on the Yorkshire BS solicitor approved list. They have just billed me a further amount for handling the Yorkshire BS mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Yorkshire BS?
As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your conveyancer may charge a fee for this. The charge is not set by Yorkshire BS but by your St Margarets lawyer. Numerous firms on the Yorkshire BS panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
Due to the input of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in St Margarets ahead of instructing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. The surveyor has said that some mortgage companies may not give a loan on a flying freehold house.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different requirements from Nationwide. If you e-mail us we can check via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in St Margarets. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in St Margarets to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
Last August I purchased a leasehold flat in St Margarets. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?
Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
Having spent months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in St Margarets. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
You certainly can. We are happy to put you in touch with a St Margarets conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a St Margarets property is Ground Floor Flat 91 Bath Road in May 2009. in a case where the freeholder could not be traced, the Brentford County Court ordered that the Lease be surrendered in return for the grant of a new lease of the Premises at a premium determined by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal concluded that the price payable by the Applicant for the new lease of the premises be £15,900 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 60.45 years.