My wife and I are looking to purchase a house in Swanage and have instructed a Swanage conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Accord Mortgages Ltd have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Swanage conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Swanage solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My fiance and I are refinancing our flat in Swanage with Aldermore. We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Aldermore conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Aldermore. This is solely used to protect Aldermore if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Aldermore had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
Can I use your services to find a Conveyancing solicitor in Swanage even where I’m not purchasing or disposing of a house, for instance where I wish to acquire an office in Swanage with a mortgage from Barclays ?
Our search tool is primarily there to get a quote from domestic conveyancing solicitors in Swanage but we have set out at the bottom of this page a few Swanage commercial conveyancing firms. You should enquire with the solicitors directly to see if they are also authorised to represent Barclays
Do I need to pop into the offices of the solicitor to sign the mortgage deed? If so, I will instruct a firm who offer conveyancing in Swanage so that I can pop in to their offices if required.
Most approved lawyers for mortgage companies carry out their communications through Royal Mail, e-mail or over the phone. This enables them to undertake the legal work for your home move regardless of where you live in England or Wales. Nevertheless you should check if you have the option of going to the offices of your conveyancing lawyer if just in case this is required.
I am 17 days into a leasehold purchase having been referred to solicitors by the estate agent to execute conveyancing in Swanage. I am not happy. Can you you assist me in finding new solicitors?
A conveyancer would have to be really poor to suggest changing them. Has the mortgage been issued? In the event that it has you will need to advise them of the replacement solicitor and ensure the mortgage documents are re-issued. Your new conveyancer should be on the mortgage company approved list to avoid supplemental costs and frustration. That should be your first question of the new solicitors. The search tool can assist you in finding a bank approved solicitor for your conveyancing in Swanage
I need to switch lawyers as my Swanage lawyer is not on the bank's approved list of conveyancing solicitors. Is it practical to instruct different lawyers?
If you haven't yet appointed a conveyancer to commence the conveyancing and at this stage simply received an estimate as to costs, you're perfectly free to choose a different solicitor to carry out your work for you. The best way is to get recommendations from friends or family who have actually used the solicitor or conveyancer in Swanage that you're thinking of instructing.