I am in the market for a low cost conveyancer. Should I go for for a national conveyancer as opposed to a high street March conveyancing lawyer?
Existing third party relationships is an important consideration when appointing conveyancing solicitors. March law firms benefit from long term relationships with financial advisers and agents, local authorities, surveyors and other conveyancing firms meaning you will move in shortest possible time. Hosting years of experience in the local area is also a plus .
Should lawyers request money up-front for my conveyancing in March?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in March your solicitor will request that you to provide them with monies to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. This will be the total of the cost of the Local Authority Search. If any deposit is as part of the total price then this will be asked for shortly ahead of contracts are exchanged. The closing balance that is needed should be sent to your lawyer shortly before completion.
Please explain the implications if my solicitor is removed from the UBS Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in March?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
My wife and I are downsizing from our home in March and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was constructed on contaminated land. A local conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the purchasers instructed a web based conveyancing practice rather than a conveyancing solicitor in March. Having lived in March for six years we know that this is a non issue. Is it a good idea to contact our local Authority to get confirmation that the buyers are looking for.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing solicitor already. Are they able to advise? You should check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same sickness)
I am employed by a busy estate agency in March where we see a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local March conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.
March Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing
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Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability? What prohibitions are there in the March Lease? Generally speaking the cost for major works are not wrapped into the service charges, although some managing agents in March ask leasehold owners to contribute towards a reserve fund created for the specific purpose of building a fund for larger repairs or maintenance.
To what extent are March conveyancing solicitors duty bound by the Law Society to publish transparent conveyancing costs?
Inbuilt into the Solicitors Code of Conduct are set rules and regulations as to how the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) allow solicitors to publicise their fees to clients.The Law Society have a practice note giving advice on how to publicise transparent charges to avoid breaching any such rule. Practice notes are not legal advice issued by the Law Society and is not to be interpreted as the only standard of good practice a conveyancing solicitor should adhere to. The Practice Note does, however, represent the Law Society’s view of acceptable practice for publicising conveyancing charges, and accordingly it’s a recommended read for any solicitor or conveyancer in March or further afield.