I am progressing with the sale of my house in Bury and the estate agent has just text me to say that the purchasers are appointing a new solicitor. The excuse is that the lender will only deal with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a leading lender only deal with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Bury ?
UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can act for them, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 25 years.
Lending institutions attribute this action to a rise in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to reveal 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. Your buyers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.
The Bury conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my purchase in Bury have suddenly shut down. I chose them because I needed a firm on the HSBC conveyancing panel and my family Bury lawyer was not. I cut them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What are my options?
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 HSBC 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 should be in a position to assist.
I require quick conveyancing in Bury as I am faced with a deadline to exchange contracts inside 3 weeks. A mortgage is not required. Can I avoid the conveyancing searches to save fees and time?
As you are not getting a home loan you have the choice not to do searches although no law firm would recommend that you don't. Drawing on our experience of conveyancing in Bury the following are examples of issues that can show up and adversely affect future saleability: Refused Planning Applications, Outstanding Fees, Overdue Grants, Road Schemes,...
I used Stirling Law several years ago for my conveyancing in Bury. Now, I need the files however the law firm has closed. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Bury of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
As co-executor for the will of my grandmother I am disposing of a house in Swansea but live in Bury. My conveyancer (based 235 kilometers awayhas requested that I execute a stat dec prior to the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing lawyer in Bury who can attest this legal document for me?
Technically speaking you are unlikely to be required to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally or notary public or qualified solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are based in Bury
I am looking for Bury online conveyancing estimates. Can I be assured that all the Bury law firms that are listed on your site are on the lender conveyancing panel?
The law firms listed on our site have advised us that they are on the lender panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the lender panel. To date we have not been informed by either a mortgage company or a member of the public that the data about a specific Bury firm being on the bank conveyancing panel is incorrect.