My husband and I are hoping to buy a home in Abingdon and have instructed a Abingdon conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. HSBC Bank have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Abingdon conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. 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 mortgage company 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 bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Abingdon lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I am getting closer to an exchange on a flat in Abingdon and my parents have transferred the exchange deposit to my conveyancer. I am now informed that as the deposit has not arrived from me my property lawyer needs to disclose this to my lender. I am advised that, in also acting for the mortgage company he must inform them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I informed the mortgage company about my parents' contribution when I applied for the home loan, so is it really appropriate for him to raise this?
The property lawyer is duty bound to check with mortgage company to make sure that they know that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. Your solicitor can only disclose this to your bank if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
We are buying a property in Abingdon. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a lawyer? On the day of competition we have to send funds into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our money?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
What is your number one tip for choosing a conveyancing solicitor in Abingdon
We would encourage you not to go for the cheapest Abingdon conveyancing costs illustration. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you know exactly what you’ll have to pay in ahead of the deal.
My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Abingdon. Conveyancing is necessary. What happens now?
Given that you are now exchanged you should instruct a conveyancing practitioner as a matter of urgency as you are faced with a tight a drop dead date to complete the transaction. An auction property should have a bespoke auction set of papers. This will include evidence of title and search results. If you have purchased leasehold premises the auction pack may contain a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing documentation pertinent to leasehold premises. You should give this to your appointed conveyancing solicitor ASAP. Do make sure that that you have the requisite funding in place to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
Various online forums that I have frequented warn that are the main reason for hinderance in Abingdon conveyancing transactions. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the findings of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the top 10 causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Searches are unlikely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Abingdon.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Abingdon ahead of appointing conveyancers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the house. Our surveyor advised that some lenders may refuse to issue a mortgage on a flying freehold home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different instructions from Nationwide. If you call us we can check with 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 Abingdon. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Abingdon especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Abingdon.
I am four weeks into a freehold purchase having been directed to solicitors by the high street agent to do our conveyancing in Abingdon. I am am very dissatisfied with the level of service. Can you you assist me in finding new solicitors?
They would have to be really bad in order to consider replacing them. Has the mortgage been issued? If so you will need to advise them of the replacement conveyancer and get the mortgage documents are re-issued. The solicitor ideally should be on the lenders panel to avoid supplemental fees and complications. So that should be your first question of the new lawyers. Our search tool can assist you in finding a lender approved lawyer for your conveyancing in Abingdon