Am I correct in assuming that the fact that my conveyancer in Burwell is not listed on my bank's conveyancing panel that there is a problem with the standard of her work?
It would not be wise to jump to that conclusion. There are all sorts of perfectly plausible explanations. Just recently a report by the solicitors regulator indicated that over three quarters of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The top 5 reasons are as follows: (1) lack of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. If you are concerned you should contact the Burwell conveyancing practice and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for your mortgage company.
The Burwell conveyancing solicitors that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Burwell have without warning closed. I only went with them because I needed a lawyer on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel and my previous Burwell lawyer was not. I cut them a cheque for £250 in advance. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Yorkshire BS 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 lawyers may be able to help.
I'm the single beneficiary of my late mum's will with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Burwell. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in August. I now wish to sell up. I understand that there is a CML six month 'rule', meaning my property ownership could be considered the same way as though I had purchased the property in August. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The CML handbook instructs conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be caught by that. Most banks would take a pragmatic view as this obligation chiefly exists to pick up on subsales or the flipping of properties.
is it true that all Burwell solicitors on the Santander conveyancing panel are overseen by the SRA?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Santander conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. The majority of mortgage companies do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the organisation would be overseen by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Burwell. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £200. Soon after, the conveyancing practitioner called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Virgin Money 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 Virgin Money 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.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our home can not be found. The conveyancers who conducted the conveyancing in Burwell 10 years ago are no longer around. What are my next steps?
Gone are the days when you need to have the physical official documentation to evidence that you own the land or premises, as the Land Registry have everything they need in a digital format.
I am looking for a ground for flat up to £305k and found one near me in Burwell I like with a park and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it's only got 61 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Burwell for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a mortgage the remaining unexpired lease term will be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.
I need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer in Burwell for my house move. Is it possible to review a firm’s complaints history with the legal regulator?
Members of the public may find presented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) decisions stemming from investigations commenced on or after Jan 2008. Visit Check a solicitor's record. To find records about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a solicitors history, call 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For callers outside the UK, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator sometimes monitor call for training purposes.