I am selling my home in Aldeburgh and the EA has just text me to say that the purchasers are appointing a new conveyancer. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only work with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a big named mortgage company only engage with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Aldeburgh ?
Lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in the last few years big names such as HSBC, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 25 years.
Banks point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to reveal 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 not going to have any impact on this.
The Aldeburgh conveyancing solicitors that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Aldeburgh have without warning shut down. I only went with them because I needed a firm on the Nationwide conveyancing panel and my preferred Aldeburgh lawyer was not. I paid them money on account. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. 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 Nationwide 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 solicitors should be in a position to help.
Do I select a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in Aldeburgh?
There are many registered licenced Conveyancers in Aldeburgh and Solicitor partnerships in Aldeburgh offering conveyancing We would stress that the two are supervised by regulatory bodies with both specialising in the legal work in transferring property. The two can conduct other property legal work such as remortgage conveyancing, lease extensions and transfer of equity conveyancing.
My partner and I are at the point of looking at flats in Aldeburgh and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it premature to have a solicitor in place? I will be getting a home loan with Coventry BS.
It would be wise to instigate your search sooner rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their details on to the EA. Given that you are seeking a mortgage with Coventry BS, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel.
I have paid off my mortgage with Santander. I assume I don't need a Aldeburgh property lawyer on the Santander panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Santander mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Santander mortgage from the register. Santander, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Santander has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Santander has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I am buying a new build apartment in Aldeburgh. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.
Set out below is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you can expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Aldeburgh
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There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company? Forfeiture - bankruptcy or liquidation must not apply under this provision. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme.
Due to the advice of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a house in Aldeburgh ahead of instructing conveyancers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. Our surveyor advised that some mortgage companies may not give a mortgage on such a property.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different instructions from Nationwide. Should you wish to call us we can check via the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Aldeburgh. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Aldeburgh to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
How difficult is it to transfer to a new firm as I need to appoint one who is on the Alliance & Leicester conveyancing list. I was using a family conveyancing solicitor in Aldeburgh five minutes from me but he is not approved by Alliance & Leicester
We will our best to assist in finding you a conveyancing solicitor in Aldeburgh on the Alliance & Leicester panel. Please note that the property lawyers that we work with do not pay us a referral fee if you instruct them and are fully regulated by the SRA who regulate all conveyancing solicitors in Aldeburgh. In making use of the find a conveyancing solicitor tool on this page, you can compare fees for conveyancing solicitors in Aldeburgh and throughout England and Wales.