My fiance and I are planning to purchase a property in Ledbury and are in fact using a Ledbury conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Platform Home Loans Ltd have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Ledbury lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer 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 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 Ledbury solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My fiance and I intend to remortgage our apartment in Ledbury with Kent Reliance. We have a son 19 who lives at home. 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 flat is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Kent Reliance 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 Kent Reliance. This is solely used to protect Kent Reliance 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 Kent Reliance 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.
When does exchange of contracts happen for sale conveyancing in Ledbury and am I required to attend the solicitors branch?
If you are local to our conveyancing solicitors in Ledbury you are welcome to attend to sign documents. However, the law practices we work with supply countrywide coverage for conveyancing and provide just as comprehensive and professional a job for you when dealing with you electronically. The signing of the property agreement is not the point of no return. A signed contract is necessary for the solicitor to exchange contracts when the time is right, which is ordinarily shortly after signing. The procedure is nowadays normally dealt with by telephone and can be very rapid, although where a lengthy "chain" is in play, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Ledbury)to be in the office at the appropriate time.
We are aiming to move house in March. Does my conveyancing solicitor update the removal company on the completion day. On a separate note, can you recommend a removal company in Ledbury. Conveyancing solicitor was chosen prior to coming across this site.
On the afternoon of completion you will need to collect the keys from your property agent but this can only happen after the vendors conveyancers confirm to the agent that the monies to complete are in and the keys can be handed over. After that you will need to advise the removal company that you are ready to move in. As a matter of policy we do not suggest a particular removal company but can assist you in locating a residential property solicitor in Ledbury or a solicitor with expertise in conveyancing in Ledbury.
Can you help - my lawyer advises that flying freehold insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Ledbury?
The appropriate level of flying freehold indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between National Westminster Bank and Skipton Building Society. Conveyancing solicitors as opposed to borrowers take out such insurances.
After weeks of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Ledbury. My financial adviser suggested a conveyancing practitioner. I paid an upfront payment of £175. A few days later, the property lawyer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Virgin Money 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 Virgin Money 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.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Ledbury is where the house is located. Is there any guidance you can impart?
Flying freeholds in Ledbury are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Ledbury you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds thoroughly. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Ledbury 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 premises.
I'm purchasing a bungalow in Ledbury. I have found my conveyancer's company on the Law Society's list, but I can't locate my conveyancer's name as listed on the regulator's website. Is this a big problem?
Not all staff in the law firm must be listed by the regulator. Provided there is someone qualified to 'oversee' the conveyancing, the actual day-to-day activity can be undertaken by unqualified staff.