My fiance and I are looking to acquire a home in Boston and have instructed a Boston conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. TSB have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Boston conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 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 bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Boston solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
My partner and I changing mortgage lender for our penthouse in Boston with Bank of Ireland. We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the Bank of Ireland 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 Bank of Ireland. This is solely used to protect Bank of Ireland 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 Bank of Ireland 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.
My uncle passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Boston. The house had a relatively small loan remaining of approximately £5k. I want to have the title changed into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Coventry BS, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
Where you intend to re-mortgage then Coventry BS will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Coventry BS conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Coventry BS mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
Please help - my lawyer says that defective lease insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Boston?
The appropriate level of defective lease indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between Lloyds TSB Bank and Skipton Building Society. Conveyancing solicitors as opposed to members of the public take out such insurances.
When it comes to lenders such as UBS, do Boston lawyers incur an annual charge to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are not aware of any mortgage company fees to be on their panel, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
Lloyds have agreed my home loan in principle, my offer on a flat in Boston has been accepted, now what?
The property agent will wish to be informed of your property lawyer's details (be sure the conveyancing practitioners are on the lender’s approved list). Telephone Lloyds or the broker and complete any relevant documentation. Lloyds will instruct a valuer who will get in touch with the selling agent or owners to book a time for the valuation to take place. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes about a week for the mortgage offer to be issued. Lloyds will issue the offer to you and your property lawyers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Boston.
I have been advised by a few property agents in Boston to find a solicitor using your seach tool. What’s the financial inducement for Estate Agents to promote your services over and above another?
We don’t offer any commission for directing people to this site. We found it would be just too difficult a fee because home movers will think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
Been reading online that Boston solicitors are more costly than Boston conveyancers in Boston to use when purchasing a property. Am I better off using a conveyancer or a solicitor if I am buying a property in Boston.
When it comes to conveyancing in Boston the costs are unlikely to vary dramatically depending on whether the legal expert is a licenced conveyancer or solicitor.