My husband and I are planning to acquire a house in Hednesford and have instructed a Hednesford conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. The Mortgage Works have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Hednesford conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. 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 lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Hednesford solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Hednesford? Is this really warranted?
To satisfy the Money Laundering Regulations any Hednesford conveyancing firm will require proof of identity in all conveyancing matters. This is normally dealt with by provision of a passport and an original bank statement or utility account evidencing your correct address.
In accordance with Money Laundering Regulations, conveyancers are duty bound to ascertain not just the ID of conveyancing clients but also the origin of monies that they receive in respect of any matter. An unwillingness to disclose this may lead to your solicitor cancelling their relationship with you, as clearly this will cause a conflict between the set Regulations and a refusal to disclose.
Your property lawyers are duty bound to make a disclosure to the appropriate authorities should they believe that any monies received by them may contravene the Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules.
My husband and I are buying a newly converted flat in Hednesford with a homeloan from Barclays .We would like to retain our Hednesford conveyancing practitioner but Barclays informed us she’s not on their approved list of member firms. We have to appoint a Barclays panel lawyer or retain our local solicitor and pay for a Barclays panel lawyer to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The loan issued to you contains various provisions, one of which will be that conveyancers must be on the Barclays conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Barclays
I used Stirling Law several years past for my conveyancing in Hednesford. I now require my papers but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Hednesford of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a house I have offered on a fortnight ago in what should have been a quick, chain free conveyancing. Hednesford is where the house is located. Can you offer any guidance?
Flying freeholds in Hednesford are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Hednesford you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your mortgage company may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Hednesford 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 property.
Are there any compelling advantages to using a high street solicitor in Hednesford
Home movers in Hednesford choose a nearby high street solicitor so that they can attend the lawyer’s offices just in case they have questions, and to sign documents without using the Royal Mail.
There is a marginal edge in using a solicitor nearby to the house you are buying, due to the familiarity of the region and potential local issues - nevertheless this is debatable. The majority of conveyancers carry out their work through email and could be based anywhere.