It has come to my attention via my lender that my Colwall property lawyer is not on the mortgage company Solicitor panel. What can I do to be sure if this is correct?
Your first step should be to contact your Colwall conveyancer. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to advise you what has happened. If they are not on the panel they may recommend you to a Colwall conveyancing practice that is on the approved list of lawyers for your bank.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Colwall? What am I being asked for?
Colwall conveyancing solicitors and indeed property practitioners throughout the UK have a duty under money laundering regulations to check the ID of any client with a view to satisfy themselves that clients are who they say they are.
Conveyancing clients are required to disclose two forms of certified ID; proof of identity (typically a Passport or Driving Licence) and proof of address (usually a Bank Statement no older than three months).
Confirmation of source of funds is also necessary under the money laundering laws as conveyancers are mandated to check that the money you are utilising to buy a property (be it the exchange deposit or the total purchase price where you are buying without a mortgage) has come from an acceptable source (such as employment savings) rather than the fruits of criminal behaviour.
The Colwall conveyancing lawyers that I appointed last week on my purchase in Colwall have suddenly shut down. I chose them because I had to have a solicitor on the Barclays conveyancing panel and my family Colwall lawyer was not. I paid them money on account. What should be my next steps?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know immediately so that they can let the sellers know 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 should appoint new lawyers that are on the Barclays 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 solicitors should be in a position to help.
When it comes to lenders such as RBS, do Colwall solicitors have to pay an annual charge to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are not aware of any bank fees to register on their panel, although some do levy an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
We previously chose conveyancers with offices in Colwall on the TSB solicitor panel. They have just billed me an additional charge for the legal aspects of the TSB mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by TSB?
Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your property lawyer is entitled to charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by TSB but by your Colwall conveyancing practitioner. Numerous firms on the TSB panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but plenty of firms incorporate it on their overall fee.
Last month we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Leeds Building Society. Colwall conveyancing practitioners were appointed. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Leeds Building Society?
Some lenders take longer than others. Have Leeds Building Society done the valuation? Have you advised Leeds Building Society as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
Will our conveyancer be raising questions regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Colwall.
Flooding is a growing risk for solicitors carrying out conveyancing in Colwall. There are those who purchase a house in Colwall, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, adequate building insurance, or sell the premises. Steps can be carried out during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the purchaser.
Conveyancers are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous checks that may be initiated by the purchaser or by their lawyers which should give them a better understanding of the risks in Colwall. The conventional set of property information forms supplied to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) includes a standard question of the vendor to discover whether the premises has historically flooded. If the premises has been flooded in past and is not disclosed by the seller, then a buyer may issue a claim for damages stemming from an incorrect answer. The purchaser’s conveyancers will also commission an enviro search. This should higlight whether there is any known flood risk. If so, further investigations should be initiated.
Our lawyer in Colwall has identified a a legal deficiency with the lease for the property we are purchasing in Colwall. The seller’s lawyers have offered title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our lawyer has advised that as he is on the bank conveyancing panel he must check that the lender is happy with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the lender?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and the lender are the client. A precondition to being on the bank approved panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects will the lease so that the mortgage company can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected . Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.