My husband and I are planning to buy a property in Crediton and have appointed a Crediton conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Accord Mortgages Ltd have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Crediton lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your mortgage company 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 lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Crediton solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Are you able to suggest a Clydesdale sanctioned Crediton conveyancing lawyer who can have us moved in within two weeks? Would it be better to use a local Crediton solicitor or a web based comparison site?
We would be happy to suggest some excellent Crediton conveyancing firms. Another option is to visit the main road in Crediton. Visit two or three firms and ask to speak with a conveyancing solicitor for a fee estimate. Mention your expectations together with the reasons and get an assurance on speed. Choose the one that genuine.
I am selling my house in Crediton. Does the lawyer need to be on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their specifications fairly frequently currently.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly picked up as part of conveyancing in Crediton?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Crediton. 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…’
I'm converting the mortgage on my existing home to a BTL mortgage with The Mortgage Works and I will use the rest of the raised equity as a down payment on another house. The area we are looking at is Crediton. Will your solicitors be able to act for both sets of banks and tie in the conveyances?
Do use our search tool on this page to check that the conveyancers are approved by both banks. Assuming that they are your solicitor will be able to simultaneously deal with the two conveyancing matters but you should talk with you solicitor and communicate your desired outcome and needs.
My mortgage broker has suggested using their property lawyer for our conveyancing in Crediton - won’t it be easier to just use them?
It is not always the case and you are entitled to instruct whichever lawyer you decide for your Crediton home move. A property lawyer put forward by a 3rd party adviser may not always be the right conveyancing practitioner, they may suggest their preferred conveyancing firm who are based far away. In this instance you may not have contact with your lawyer and due to the lack of continuity in the transaction, it may be difficult to obtain progress reports.