I am in the process of selling my ground floor flat in Mawsley and the EA has just text me to warn that the purchasers are switching property lawyer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the bank will only engage with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a major mortgage company only deal with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose for their conveyancing in Mawsley ?
Banks have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the last few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 15 years.
Lenders blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The buyers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Mawsley? Is this really warranted?
It is indeed that case that these requests have nothing to do with conveyancing in Mawsley. Nowadays you can not complete any conveyancing process in the absence handing over evidence of your identity. This usually takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence plus a council tax bill. Please note that if you are supplying your driving licence as proof of identification it must be both the paper section as well as the photo card part, one is not acceptable in the absence of the other.
Proof of your source of monies is required under Money Laundering Regulations. Don’t be offended when you are asked to produce this as your conveyancer must have this information on record. Your Mawsley conveyancing lawyer will need to see evidence of proof of funds before they are able to accept any monies from you into their client account and they should also ask further queries concerning the source of funds.
My colleague advised me that if I am purchasing in Mawsley I should ask my conveyancer to perform a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
This is a search is usually quoted for as part of the standard Mawsley conveyancing searches. It is a large document of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Mawsley around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Mawsley Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Mawsley.
I am buying a new build house in Mawsley benefiting from help to buy. The builders refused to move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of fixtures and fittings instead. The house builders rep advised me not disclose to my solicitor about the deal as it will affect my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
How do I locate a Mawsley law firm on the Birmingham Midshires conveyancing panel? I have a car and am willing to travel upto 25kilometers to meet the solicitor.
You can use the tool on this website. Please pick a mortgage company and your location and you will see a number of Mawsley conveyancing lawyers locally. We have detailed some Mawsley conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can ring them to verify whether they are on the Birmingham Midshires member panel
I have checked your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the lender approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?
Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the bank conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the mortgage company solicitor panel.