The Headley conveyancing lawyers that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Headley have suddenly shut down. I only went with them because I had to have a firm on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel and my family Headley lawyer was not. I paid them funds on account. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help.
Are all Headley Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the Skipton conveyancing list of approved firms?
A selection of banks and building societies now use CQS as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. CQS accreditation however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitors wishing to join their panels.
We previously selected conveyancers based in Headley on the UBS solicitor approved list. They have just billed me a supplemental fee for handling the UBS mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee set by UBS?
As unfair as it may appear, as long as it’s in their Terms and Conditions or estimate then yes your solicitor can levy a fee for this. This charge is not set by UBS but by your Headley conveyancer. Numerous firms on the UBS panel will levy an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
Two weeks ago we had a mortgage agreed in principle with Principality. Headley conveyancing lawyers have been selected. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Principality?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Principality completed the valuation? Have you advised Principality as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Principality conveyancing panel? Sometimes it can take as long as six weeks for a mortgage offer to be issued.
Will our solicitor be asking questions about flooding as part of the conveyancing in Headley.
Flooding is a growing risk for solicitors specialising in conveyancing in Headley. There are those who buy a property in Headley, fully expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, leaving to one side the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, adequate building insurance, or sell the property. Steps can be carried out during the course of a property purchase to forewarn the buyer.
Conveyancers are not best placed to offer advice on flood risk, however there are a various checks that can be undertaken by the purchaser or on a buyer’s behalf which should give them a better understanding of the risks in Headley. The conventional set of information given to a purchaser’s lawyer (where the Conveyancing Protocol is adopted) contains a usual question of the owner to determine whether the property has ever been flooded. If flooding has previously occurred which is not notified by the vendor, then a buyer may issue a compensation claim as a result of such an inaccurate reply. The buyer’s lawyers should also conduct an enviro search. This will reveal if there is any known flood risk. If so, further inquiries will need to be conducted.
four months have gone by following my purchase conveyancing in Headley took place. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £215,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
My husband and I are new to the buying process - had an offer accepted, but the selling agent informed us that the owners will only issue a contract if we appoint their preferred solicitors as they need a ‘quick sale’. My instinct tells me that we should use a high street conveyancer accustomed to conveyancing in Headley
We suspect that the owner is unaware of this ultimatum. If they want ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated purchaser is not the way to achieve this. Contact the vendors directly and make sure they comprehend that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are ready to progress, with finances in place © you have nothing to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you intend to instruct your preferred Headley conveyancing lawyers - not the ones that will give their estate agent a kickback or meet his conveyancing thresholds set by corporate headquarters.
What can I do to establish who owns a property in Headley?
Provided the property is recorded at the Land Registry, and you have requisite details of the location of the premises, you will be able to view results from the HMLR of the registered proprietor for a a minimal charge.