I am selling my apartment in Colwyn Bay and the estate agent has just e-mailed to warn that the buyers are switching law firm. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only work with property lawyers on their approved list. Why would a big named lender only work with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in Colwyn Bay ?
Banks 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 acted for them for over 25 years.
Banks justify this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are not going to have any sway in the decision.
I had intended to instruct a conveyancing solicitor in Colwyn Bay for our house move. Our broker has since advised us that our mortgage lenders Lloyds TSB Bank won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unduly restrictive?
Lenders on the whole restrict either the type or the number of conveyancing practices on their panel. Typical examples of such criteria being that a law practice must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the profile of firm, some have reduced the number of solicitor practices they permit to act for them. Be aware that Lloyds TSB Bank have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Lloyds TSB Bank Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a primary driver in the rationalisation of solicitor panels since 2008 even though there remains mixed opinions concerning the extent of solicitor engagement in some of that fraud. Data from the Land Registry indicate that thousands of law firms, including some in or near Colwyn Bay only carry out very few conveyances per annum.
Does a directory service exist listing Nationwide panel solicitors in Colwyn Bay on the Building Society Association’s Website?
No. There is no such facility on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association websites. A small selection of mortgage companies make their panel listings available over the internet. If you are looking for a Colwyn Bay lawyer on the Nationwide please make the most of our tool.
My husband and I have organised the release of further monies on our home loan from Leeds Building Society as we want to carry out renovations to our property in Colwyn Bay. Do we need to appoint a nearby Colwyn Bay solicitor on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?
Leeds Building Society do not ordinarily appoint firms on their conveyancing panel 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 Leeds Building Society panel.
My wife and I are spending time looking at apartments in Colwyn Bay and I am now considering a potential offer. Is it too early to have a solicitor in place? I intend to finance via a home loan with UBS.
It would be prudent to instigate your search sooner rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and forward their contact information on to the EA. Given that you are getting a mortgage with UBS, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the UBS conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
Various online forums that I have frequented warn that are the main cause of obstruction in Colwyn Bay conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published conclusions of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature within the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are unlikely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Colwyn Bay.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Colwyn Bay. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.
Set out below is a sample of a few leasehold new build questions that you should expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Colwyn Bay
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There must be mutual enforceability of lessee’s covenants. Please supply a car parking plan. Where service of notices and proceedings can be at the property demised please confirm that this can be amended to include simultaneous services at the Lessees’ solicitors’ offices where the Lessee from time to time is not resident in the UK - such solicitors may be varied by notice in writing to the Landlord from time to time but otherwise will be as previously specified. The Lease must contain a provision on behalf of the Vendor to pay the service charges in respect of unoccupied units in order to ensure that all services can be provided. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents.
My husband and I are FTB’s - agreed a price, yet the selling agent has warned us that the vendor will only proceed if we appoint their chosen solicitors as they need an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a high street solicitor who is accustomed to conveyancing in Colwyn Bay
It is highly unlikely the vendors are behind this. If they desire ‘a quick sale', turning down a serious buyer is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Speak to the owners direct and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with finances in place © you are chain free (d) you wish to move quickly (e)however you intend to use your own,trusted Colwyn Bay conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will provide the estate agent a referral fee or hit his conveyancing figures demanded by corporate headquarters.