My wife and I are looking to acquire a home in Luton and have instructed a Luton conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Bank of Ireland have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Luton solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual 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 property lawyer 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 solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Luton lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Please could you suggest a Virgin Money sanctioned Luton conveyancing practice who can have us moved in within less than a month? Am I best advised to go for a high street Luton conveyancer or a web based conveyancer?
We would be happy to suggest some excellent Luton conveyancing firms. You can also walk up the main road in Luton. Go in to a couple of law practices and request to see a conveyancing solicitor for a costs illustration. Explain your requirements together with the reasons and ask for a commitment on your deadline. Select the lawyer that you trust.
The Luton conveyancing lawyers that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in Luton have suddenly closed. I chose them because I had to have a solicitor on the Santander conveyancing panel and my family Luton lawyer was not. I paid them funds on account. What do I do now?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. 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 Santander 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 lawyers should be in a position to help.
I am the sole beneficiary of my late father’s estate with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Luton. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in July. I want to move. I do know about the CML 6 month 'rule', meaning my property ownership could be regarded the same way as though I had purchased the property in July. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook requires solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you could be affected by that. Most lenders would take a practical view as this obligation is primarily there to capture subsales or the flipping of properties.
We had chosen conveyancing lawyers located in Luton on the Yorkshire BS solicitor approved list. They are now charging me a further charge for dealing with the Yorkshire BS mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Yorkshire BS?
As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your conveyancer can charge a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by Yorkshire BS but by your Luton conveyancer. Numerous firms on the Yorkshire BS panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee but plenty of practices include it on their overall fee.
I can not fathom if my bank obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date. I have called into my local Luton building society branch on various occasions and was informed it wasn't a problem and they would lend. My Luton conveyancing solicitor - who is on the mortgage company conveyancing panel- called and was told they refuse to lend based on their published requirements. Who do I believe?
Provided that the solicitor is on the bank approved list, she or he must adhere to the CML Handbook conditions for the lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that the lender will go ahead, your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask the mortgage company to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the number of years remaining.
Me and my brother have a renovated Edwardian property in Luton. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Bank of Ireland. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Luton and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also question the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who conducted the conveyancing.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I have offered on two weeks back in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. Luton is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Luton are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Luton you must be sure that your lawyer goes 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 Luton may decide 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.