My fiance and I are hoping to acquire a flat in Crawcrook and Ryton and have appointed a Crawcrook and Ryton conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Nottingham Building Society have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Crawcrook and Ryton solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Crawcrook and Ryton solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Crawcrook and Ryton? Is this really warranted?
You are right in these requests have nothing to do with conveyancing in Crawcrook and Ryton. Nowadays you can not complete any conveyancing deal if you have not providing proof of your identity. Ordinarily this takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence plus a council tax bill. Please note that if you are providing your driving licence as proof of ID it needs to be both the paper element as well as the photo card part, one is not sufficient in the absence of the other.
Proof of your origin of monies is necessary in accordance with the Money Laundering Regulations. You should not be offended when you are asked to produce this as your lawyer will need to have this information on record. Your Crawcrook and Ryton conveyancing lawyer will require evidence of proof of funds before they are able to accept any funds from you into their client account and they may also ask additional queries concerning the source of funds.
we are a couple who are buying a purpose built flat in Crawcrook and Ryton with a loan from Santander.We like our Crawcrook and Ryton conveyancing solicitor but Santander advised that he's not on their approved list of firms. we are left little option but to use a Santander panel firm or keep our preferred solicitor and fork out for a Santander panel lawyer to represent them. This seems very unfair; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The home loan offered to you contains various provisions, one of which will be that conveyancers needs to be on the Santander solicitor panel. Until recently, most banks had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Santander
Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with HSBC. Crawcrook and Ryton conveyancing lawyers have been selected. How long does it take for HSBC to issue the offer to the property lawyer?
There is no definitive answer here. Have HSBC done the survey? Have you advised HSBC as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the HSBC conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Nationwide. I assume I don't need a Crawcrook and Ryton lawyer on the Nationwide panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Nationwide mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Nationwide mortgage from the register. Nationwide, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Nationwide has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Nationwide has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Crawcrook and Ryton. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
Almost 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 sorted out effectively and efficiently. 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 with full details of your complaint.
I am purchasing a new build house in Crawcrook and Ryton with a mortgage from Skipton Building Society. The sellers refused to budge the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The property agent suggested that I not disclose to my lawyer about the deal as it would put at risk my loan with Skipton Building Society. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Are you able to explain what options are open to me where my Crawcrook and Ryton conveyancing searches reveals negative entries?
Usually, almost all concerns arising from Crawcrook and Ryton conveyancing search responses can be dealt with in advance of completion or title insurance could possibly be taken. You should note that regardless of the fact that you may be purchasing the property and may be willing to live with the search results, your mortgage lender may not, and when all said and done have the final decision.