My wife and I are planning to buy a home in Custom House and have appointed a Custom House conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Barclays Direct have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Custom House conveyancer 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 normal 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 lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Custom House lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Custom House? Is this really necessary?
To satisfy the Money Laundering Regulations any Custom House conveyancing firm will require evidence of your identity in all conveyancing matters. This is normally dealt with by provision of a passport and an original bank statement or utility bill showing where you reside.
In accordance with Money Laundering Regulations, conveyancing solicitors are duty bound to validate not just the identity of conveyancing clients but also the source of the money that they receive in respect of any matter. An unwillingness to disclose this may result in your lawyer terminating their relationship with you, as clearly this will cause a conflict between the set Regulations and a refusal to disclose.
Your property lawyers will have an obligation to make a disclosure to the relevant authorities should they consider that any amounts received by them may contravene the Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in two weeks back in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Custom House is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Custom House are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Custom House you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Custom House may ascertain that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
I'm converting the mortgage on my existing property to a BTL mortgage with Platform Home Loans Ltd and I will use the ballance of the raised equity as a deposit on further house. The location we are interested in is Custom House. Will your solicitors be able to act for the two lenders and link together the two deals?
Do use our search tool on this site to check that the solicitors are approved by both mortgage companies. Having checked that they are your lawyer should be able to tie up the two deals but you should have a chat with you solicitor and make clear your expectations and requirements.
My step-father has suggested that I instruct his lawyers for conveyancing in Custom House. Do I take his recommendation?
Much as we are happy to recommend a Custom House conveyancing lawyer it’s preferable to choose a conveyancing lawyer is to have recommendations from friends or relatives who have actually used the conveyancer that you are considering.
Are there any apps to help find a Custom House conveyancing solicitor on the mortgage company conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 25kilometers to meet the lawyer.
You can use the find a conveyancing panel search on this page. Please choose the lender and your location, in this case Custom House and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest Custom House. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the lender solicitor panel.