My husband and I are hoping to purchase a property in Lea Bridge and are in fact using a Lea Bridge conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Yorkshire Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Lea Bridge lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Lea Bridge solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Lea Bridge? Is this really warranted?
In order to comply with Money Laundering Regulations any Lea Bridge conveyancing firm will require evidence of your identity in all conveyancing matters. This is usually dealt with by provision of a passport and an original bank statement or utility account showing where you live.
Under Money Laundering Regulations, conveyancers are obliged by law to validate not only the ID of conveyancing clients but also the source of fund that they receive in respect of any matter. Refusal to disclose this will lead to your lawyer cancelling their relationship with you, as clearly this will cause a conflict between the set Regulations and a refusal to disclose.
Your conveyancers will have an obligation to notify the relevant authorities should they believe that any monies received by them may contravene the Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules.
My fiance and I are purchasing a purpose built apartment in Lea Bridge with a loan from TSB.We would like to retain our Lea Bridge conveyancing practitioner but TSB informed us he's not listed on their "panel". we are left little option but to use a TSB panel firm or keep our local solicitor and fork out for a TSB panel lawyer to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; Can we not simply insist that TSB use our lawyer?
Unfortunately,no. The home loan offered to you contains various provisions, one of which will be that solicitors will be on the TSB approved list. 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 solicitors to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for TSB
Do I need to pay for insurance to cover chancel repairs when acquiring a residence in Lea Bridge?
Unless a previous acquisition of the property completed after 12 October 2013 you can assume that solicitors handling conveyancing in Lea Bridge to remain encouraging a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.
I was pointed in your direction by a number of property agents in Lea Bridge to get a quote from a conveyancer on your site. What’s the financial inducement for Estate Agents to offer your site over and above another?
We refuse to offer any financial incentive for pointing buyers and sellers in our direction. We thought it would be too underhand a fee because a client could think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why am I not receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
Should I go with a Lea Bridge conveyancing lawyer in close proximity to the house I am hoping to buy? I have an old university friend who can conduct the legal formalities however they are based 400kilometers drive away.
The benefit of a high street Lea Bridge conveyancing firm is that you can attend the office to sign documents, hand in your ID and apply pressure on them if necessary. Having local Lea Bridge know how is a plus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who instructed your friend and they were happy that must surpass using an unfamiliar Lea Bridge conveyancing lawyer just because they are local.