I am progressing with the sale of my house in West Hill and the estate agent has just called to say that the purchasers are swapping solicitor. The excuse is that the lender will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major mortgage company only engage with specific law firms rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in West Hill ?
UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in recent years big names such as Nationwide, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.
Lending institutions blame a rise in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to keep an eye on. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices 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 purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
The West Hill conveyancing lawyers that just started acting on my house acquisition in West Hill have suddenly closed. I only went with them because I had to have a solicitor on the UBS conveyancing panel and my preferred West Hill lawyer was not. I wrote them a cheque for £250 in advance. What are my options?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the UBS conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers may be able to help.
I just bought a house at auction in West Hill. Conveyancing is required. What happens now?
Given that you have now exchanged you must retain a conveyancing practitioner quickly as you now have a tight a drop dead date to complete the purchase. Every auction property should have an associated legal set of papers. This should include the copy title deeds, local authority and drainage searches. Where you are dealing with leasehold premises the conveyancing papers should include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and associated conveyancing documentation specific to leasehold premises. You must give this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor as soon as possible. You also need to ensure that that you have the requisite funding in place to complete on the on the contractual date .
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Nottingham, do West Hill lawyers incur an annual charge to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are not aware of any mortgage company fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do levy an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
is it true that all West Hill solicitors on the Lloyds conveyancing panel are governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Lloyds approved list of solicitors they would need to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. The majority of lenders do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the firms would be overseen by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
I am purchasing a new build house in West Hill benefiting from help to buy. The sellers refused to reduce the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The house builders rep suggested that I not reveal to my solicitor about this extras as it would put at risk my loan with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I have been sourcing a conveyancing solicitor in West Hill for my house move. Is it possible to see a solicitor's complaints history with the profession’s regulator?
One may find documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions arising from investigations from 2008 onwards. Go to Check a solicitor's record. To find information about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a solicitors history, telephone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 any week day save for Tuesday when lines open at 9.30am. International callers, call +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA may recorded telephone calls for training purposes.
Looking forward to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in West Hill. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in West Hill should include some of the following:
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Does the lease prevent you from renting out the flat, or working from home if lease caters for for a sinking fund? You should have a good understanding of the insurance obligations Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring? specifics of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the lessee, superior lessor, freeholder
Following years of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in West Hill. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?
Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a West Hill conveyancing firm who can help.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a West Hill property is 158 West Hill in November 2010. the Tribunal held that the premium to be paid for the freehold reversion should be £99,650 This case was in relation to 7 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 75.88 years.