I am in the process of selling my apartment in Hastings and the EA has just telephoned to say that the purchasers are changing their law firm. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only deal with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major lender only deal with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Hastings ?
Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Santander, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 15 years.
Mortgage companies point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The purchasers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.
Our god-son is in the process of securing a new build apartment in Hastings with a mortgage from Virgin Money. His solicitor has advised him of a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. What is this document - I have never come across this before?
The document is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when requested. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Virgin Money conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
When researching mumsnet.com for an affordable solicitor in Hastings, most comment that I should use a CQS kitemarked lawyer. Can you explain what CQS is?
The Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) provides a kitemark for residential conveyancing practices issued by the Law Society. Membership achievement establishes a level of credibility for member firms with stakeholders (regulators, lenders, insurers and consumers) based upon: * the integrity of the senior responsible officer and other key conveyancing staff * the firm's adherence to good practice management standards * adherence to best practice conveyancing processes via the scheme protocol Membership covers many organisations who handle conveyancing in Hastings.
I am the sole recipient of my late father’s will and I have everything in my name alone, including the house in Hastings. The Hastings property was put into my name in January. I plan to dispose of the house. I do know about the CML six month 'rule', meaning my proprietorship will be considered the same way as though I had purchased the house in January. Do I have to wait 6 months to sell?
The CML handbook requires solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be affected by that. Some lenders would take a pragmatic view as this requirement principally exists to pick up on subsales or the quick reselling of property.
is it true that all Hastings solicitors on the UBS conveyancing panel are overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As solicitors, in order to be on the UBS conveyancing panel they would need to be governed by the SRA. Some lenders do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel and in such a situation the organisation would be governed by the CLC.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Hastings. My financial adviser suggested a property lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £200. Not long after, the conveyancing practitioner contacted me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the HSBC 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 HSBC 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.
My colleague suggested that where I am buying in Hastings I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is sometimes included in the estimate for your Hastings conveyancing searches. It is a large report of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out important information about Hastings around the property and the people living there. It includes an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Hastings Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime statistics, Hastings Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information regarding Hastings.
How much experience do your Hastings conveyancing solicitors have with Help To Buy, Shared Equity and similar schemes?
Hastings conveyancing lawyers help thousands of buyers move home every year and assisted lots of clients through the Help To Buy scheme. The chances are that whatever makes your case unique Hastings conveyancers have worked on recent similar matters.