I am progressing with the sale of my home in Bovey Tracey and the EA has just e-mailed to say that the purchasers are switching property lawyer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the lender will only deal with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a leading mortgage company only work with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Bovey Tracey ?
Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in recent years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 15 years.
Lending institutions point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. Banks tend not to disclose how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The buyers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
Do the Building Society Association intend to launch a searchable register to to identify firms on the Loughborough BS conveyancing panel for example in Bovey Tracey?
We would not expect to be advised of any intention on the part of the BSA to develop such a tool.
Please help - my lawyer says that lack of planning permission insurance is needed on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Bovey Tracey?
The appropriate level of lack of planning permission indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between Yorkshire Building Society and The Mortgage Works. Conveyancing solicitors as opposed to members of the public take out such policies.
We are getting the release of further funds on our home loan from Virgin Money as we wish to conduct a loft conversion to our property in Bovey Tracey. Are we obliged to appoint a nearby Bovey Tracey solicitor on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?
Virgin Money would not normally instruct a member of their approved list of lawyers to handle such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Virgin Money list.
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Bovey Tracey. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £225. Shortly after, the conveyancing practitioner called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Aldermore 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 Aldermore 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.
We are buying a property and the conveyancer has raised the issue of Chancel Repair to which the house could be obligated to contribute to as it falls into the area of such a church. She has recommended insurance. Is this strictly warranted for conveyancing in Bovey Tracey
Unless a previous acquisition of the property completed after 12 October 2013 you could assume that lawyers handling conveyancing in Bovey Tracey to remain recommending a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
I was pointed in your direction by numerous selling agents in Bovey Tracey to get a quote from a property lawyer on your site. What’s the financial incentive for Estate Agents to recommend your site ahead of a competitor’s?
We refuse to make any financial incentive for sending work our way. We found it would be just too difficult to pay a commission because home movers will think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not getting any benefit too?’ We would prefer to grow our business on genuine recommendations.
Finally our conveyancing in Bovey Tracey is set to complete on Friday, however the people I am purchasing from wants to move out 24 hours later at midday. Can I agree to such a plan?
Where you require a loan then your conveyancer will require that the property isvacant on Friday - the bank will compel it.