I am acquiring a maisonette in Cumberland. My property lawyer has never been on on the mortgage company solicitor list. Is it possible for me to retain my Cumberland conveyancing solicitor even though they are not on the bank panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
You have a number of options available to you here
- Proceed with your chosen Cumberland lawyer but your mortgage company will need to appoint a lawyer on their approved panel. This will result in additional charges and potential interruption.
- Get a new property lawyer to act in the purchase, ensuring that they are on the lender conveyancing panel.
- Appeal to your lawyer to attempt to join the lender panel
My wife and I are acquiring a newly constructed flat in Cumberland and my solicitor is telling me that she is duty bound to the bank to disclose incentives from the seller. I am nearing the developer’s deadline to exchange and I don't want to prolong the conveyancing. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your conveyancer. A precondition to being on a mortgage company panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook provisions. The UK Finance Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
When will exchange of contracts happen for purchase conveyancing in Cumberland and do I need to be at the lawyers branch?
Where you are near to our conveyancing solicitors in Cumberland you are welcome to come in to sign the paperwork. However, the law practices we recommend offer countrywide coverage for conveyancing and provide as equally comprehensive and professional a job for you when communicating with you by post or email. The executing of the property agreement is not the critical part. Signing on the dotted line is necessary for the conveyancer to address the formalities when the time is right, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The exchange process is is usually a five minute process, although where a lengthy "chain" is in play, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Cumberland)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.
We're in Cumberland, First timers buying with a mortgage (lender is HSBC , and our lawyer is on the HSBC conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the HSBC conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancing practitioner should guarantee a timeframe for your conveyancing, due to third parties outside of your control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain.
I am assisting my step-mother sell her house in Cumberland. Will the conveyancing solicitor commission the energy performance certificate or should I organise this?
Following the demise of Home Information Packs, energy performance certificates was left as a required part of selling a house. An energy performance certificate needs to be commissioned before the property is placed on the market. It is not as aspect of the sale process that law firms normally arrange. Where you are using a Cumberland conveyancing practitioner they might help arrange energy assessments due to their relationships with long established Cumberland providers
Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Cumberland. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
Most banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. In most cases 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 who will take matters further.
After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Cumberland. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £225. A few days later, the conveyancing practitioner called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Nationwide 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 Nationwide 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.
I have been told that property searches are the main cause of delay in Cumberland conveyancing transactions. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released determinations of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure within the common causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are not likely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Cumberland.