My husband and I are only a couple days away from an exchange on a flat in Grays and my mum and dad have sent the 10% deposit to my solicitor. I am now informed that as the deposit has been received from someone other than me my property lawyer needs to make a notification to my bank. I am advised that, in also acting for the bank he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I disclosed to the lender concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the mortgage, so is it really appropriate for this now to be an issue?
The lawyer is obliged to clarify with lender to ensure that they are aware that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own resources. The solicitor can only disclose this to your mortgage company if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
I am selling my apartment in Grays. Does my solicitor need to be required to be on the Nationwide conveyancing panel in order to deal with repayment of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Nationwide 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 conditions fairly frequently in recent years.
Can you point me to a directory of Kent Reliance panel conveyancers in Grays on the Building Society Association’s Website?
No. There is no such tool on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association sites. Very few mortgage companies make their panel listings viewable online. Where you are in need of a Grays property lawyer on the Kent Reliance please make the most of our tool.
is it true that all Grays solicitor practices on the TSB conveyancing panel are governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the TSB approved list of solicitors they would need to be governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Some lenders do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such practice would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Grays. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How do I make a complaint?
Almost all lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Department at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our property are lost. The conveyancers who dealt with the conveyancing in Grays 5 years ago are no longer around. What are my options?
Assuming the title is registered the details of your proprietorship will be retained by HMLR with a Title Number. It is possible to execute a search at the Land Registry, find your house and secure up to date copies of the Registered Entries for a small fee. If the title is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases hold a certified copy of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be retrieved for £20 inclusive of VAT.
I've recently bought a leasehold house in Grays. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
Following months of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Grays. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
in cases where there is a absentee landlord or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the amount due.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Grays property is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 76 years.
Are there any apps to help find a Grays conveyancing solicitor on the bank conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 25kilometers to meet the solicitor.
You can use the find a conveyancing panel tool on this website. Please choose the lender and your location, in this case Grays and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest Grays. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the bank solicitor panel.