My fiance and I are looking to purchase a house in Abbots Langley and are in fact using a Abbots Langley conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Britannia have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Abbots Langley lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors 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 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 solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Abbots Langley lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We note that you have a search directory identifying solicitors on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel. Do companies pay you a commission if I retain them for our conveyancing in Abbots Langley?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Abbots Langley.
My apartment in Abbots Langley is up for sale and I have accepted an offer. Will the conveyancing practitioner have to be required to be on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel in order to deal with repayment of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their conditions fairly frequently in recent years.
We previously selected conveyancers located in Abbots Langley on the Principality solicitor panel. They have just billed me a separate sum for dealing with the Principality mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Principality?
As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms of Engagement or Quote then yes your conveyancer is entitled to levy a fee for this. The fee is not set by Principality but by your Abbots Langley conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of firms on the Principality panel will quote ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but plenty of firms include it on their overall fee.
It is unclear whether my bank obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called my Abbots Langley building society branch on various occasions and was told it does not affect the mortgage offer and they will lend. My Abbots Langley conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- called and was told they will not lend in accordance with their UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook minimum lease term requirements. Who do I believe?
Your conveyancer has to follow the CML Handbook section two requirements for your bank. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the bank 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.
After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Abbots Langley. My mortgage broker suggested a lawyer. I paid an on account payment of £200. Soon after, the conveyancing practitioner called me to say that they were not on the Santander conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Santander panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
How do I locate a Abbots Langley solicitor on the Nottingham Building Society conveyancing panel? I have wheels and am willing to travel upto 20miles to meet the lawyer.
You can use the tool on this website. Please choose the bank and your location and you will see a number of Abbots Langley conveyancing lawyers located nearest you. We have listed some Abbots Langley conveyancing firms towards the end of this page and you can contact them to check whether they are on the Nottingham Building Society approved list
My partner has suggested that I appoint his conveyancers in Abbots Langley. Do I follow his recommendation?
No doubt it’s preferable to select a conveyancing lawyer is to have referrals from friends or family who have previously instructed the conveyancer you're considering.