It has come to my attention via my mortgage broker that my Cardiff property lawyer is not on the mortgage company Conveyancing panel. How can I be sure if this is correct?
The first thing you need to do is to contact your Cardiff lawyer directly. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to notify you of the situation. Where they are not on the panel they may be able to suggest a Cardiff conveyancing firm that is on the conveyancing panel for your bank.
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Cardiff. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I would like to complain about the lender. How do I make a complaint?
All lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.
I can not work out if my mortgage offer obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called my Cardiff bank branch on a couple of occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they will lend. My Cardiff conveyancing solicitor - who is on the bank conveyancing panel- telephoned and was told they would not lend in accordance with their specific requirements. I have no idea who is right.
As long as the conveyancing practitioner is on the lender panel, she or he must comply with the CML Handbook requirements for the lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the mortgage company will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the bank to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Cardiff. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £200. A few days later, the property lawyer contacted 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.
Various web forums that I have visited warn that are the primary cause of obstruction in Cardiff conveyancing transactions. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released findings of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Searches are not likely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Cardiff.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Cardiff?
Restrictive covenants can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Cardiff. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
What does commercial conveyancing in Cardiff cover?
Cardiff conveyancing for business premises covers a broad array of advice, offered by qualified solicitors, relating to business premises. For example, this area of conveyancing can cover the sale or purchase of freehold business premises or, more commonly, the assignment of existing leases or the drafting of new leasing arrangements. Commercial conveyancing solicitors can also offer advice on the sale of business assets, commercial loans and the termination of leases.
I'm remortgaging a apartment in Cardiff. I can find my conveyancer's company on the Law Society's list, but I can't find my conveyancer's name as listed on the regulator's website. Is this a big problem?
Not every individual in the law firm must be listed by the regulator. Provided there is someone qualified to 'oversee' the work, the actual day-to-day activity can be undertaken by unqualified staff.