My partner and I are planning to buy a property in Boston and are in fact using a Boston conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. The Mortgage Works have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Boston lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor 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 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 your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Boston? Why is this being asked of me?
You are right in these requests have nothing to do with conveyancing in Boston. However these days you will not be able to proceed with any conveyancing transaction in the absence supplying evidence of your identity. Ordinarily this takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence and a council tax bill. Please note that if you are supplying your driving licence as proof of ID it must be both the paper element as well as the photo card part, one is not acceptable in the absence of the other.
Evidence of the origin of monies is necessary under Money Laundering Regulations. Please do not be offended when you are asked to produce this as your lawyer must retain this information on file. Your Boston conveyancing lawyer will require evidence of proof of funds prior to accepting any funds from you into their client account and they may also ask further questions regarding the origin of funds.
My flat in Boston is up for sale and I have accepted an offer. Will the solicitor have to be required to be on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel in order to deal with repayment of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Virgin Money 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 specifications fairly frequently currently.
How does conveyancing in Boston differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build property in Boston contact us having been asked by the builder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is built. This is because house builders in Boston tend to buy the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Boston or who has acted in the same development.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on last month in what should have been a quick, chain free conveyancing. Boston is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Boston are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Boston you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Boston may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Boston where we see a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Boston conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?
Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.
An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
Boston Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to buying
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How is the lease structured? The prefered form of lease structure is where the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this arrangement the tenants benefit from control and even though a managing agent is often retained where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Best to be warned if redecorating or some other significant cost is due shortly that will be shared by the leasehold owners and could well dramatically impact the level of the maintenance charges or result in a one off payment.