I was notified yesterday by my lender that my Helmsley solicitor is not on the mortgage company Conveyancing panel. How can I be certain whether this is indeed the case?
You need to contact your Helmsley conveyancer. You lawyer should advise you what has happened. Where they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the conveyancing panel for your bank.
My husband and I are refinancing our flat in Helmsley with Principality. 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 property is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Principality conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 4 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Principality 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 Principality. This is solely used to protect Principality 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 Principality 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.
My husband and I are buying a newly converted flat in Helmsley with a mortgage from Skipton Building Society.We like our Helmsley conveyancing lawyer but Skipton Building Society says his firm is not listed on their approved list of member firms. We have to appoint a Skipton Building Society panel lawyer or retain our local solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that Skipton Building Society use our lawyer?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you contains various provisions, one of which will be that solicitors will be on the Skipton Building Society solicitor panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of solicitors 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 Skipton Building Society
Are all Helmsley Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the Coventry BS conveyancing list of approved firms?
A selection of banks and building societies now utilise the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to remain on their panels.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Virgin Money, do Helmsley conveyancing practitioners have to pay an annual charge to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are not aware of any bank fees to be on their panel, although some do charge an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel submission.
Coventry BS have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on a flat in Helmsley has been agreed to, what happens next?
Your property agent will need to know who your solicitors are (ensure that the lawyers are on the bank’s approved list). Call up Coventry BS or the financial adviser and finish off any relevant paperwork. Coventry BS will sellect a valuer who will get in contact with the selling agent or owners to book an appointment. Once carried out (assuming no problems) it takes approximately a fortnight to receive the mortgage offer. Coventry BS will send the offer to you and your conveyancers. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing in Helmsley.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on two weeks back in what should have been a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Helmsley is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Helmsley are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Helmsley 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 Helmsley 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 residence.
I note that you have a post code search directory listing solicitors on the lender conveyancing panel. Do Helmsley conveyancing firms pay you a referral fee if I appoint them for my house purchase?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to the any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in Helmsley.