My fiance and I are hoping to purchase a flat in East Bedfont and have instructed a East Bedfont conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Coventry Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our East Bedfont conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred East Bedfont lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My fiance and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in East Bedfont with Kent Reliance. We have a son 19 who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise his rights to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Kent Reliance conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Kent Reliance. This is solely used to protect Kent Reliance if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Kent Reliance had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in East Bedfont? Why is this being asked of me?
East Bedfont conveyancing solicitors as well as nationwide property practitioners accross the UK have an obligation under money laundering regulations to check the identity of any client in order to ensure that clients are who they say they are.
Conveyancing clients are required to provide two forms of certified identification; proof of identity (usually a Passport or Driving Licence) and evidence of address (usually a Utility Bill no older than three months).
Proof of source of funds is also required under the money laundering regulations as solicitors are obliged to check that the money you are using to acquire a property (be it the exchange deposit or the total purchase monies where you are buying mortgage free) has come from an acceptable source (such as employment savings) as opposed to the proceeds of illegitimate behaviour.
Is it necessary to pay for insurance to cover chancel repairs when buying a residence in East Bedfont?
Unless a prior purchase of the property completed after 12 October 2013 you can expect conveyancing practitioners delivering conveyancing in East Bedfont to remain encouraging a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. East Bedfont is where the house is located. Can you offer any advice?
Flying freeholds in East Bedfont are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside East Bedfont you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in East Bedfont may determine 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 property.
I need to instruct a conveyancing solicitor for sale conveyancing in East Bedfont. I happened to land on a site which seems to have the perfect offering If there is a chance to get all this stuff completed via phone that would be preferable. Do I need to be concerned? What should out be looking out for?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?