I am progressing with the sale of my ground floor flat in Maze Hill and the EA has just text me to warn that the purchasers are swapping property lawyer. The excuse is that the bank will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major lender only work with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in Maze Hill ?
Lenders have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the last few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for more than 25 years.
Lending institutions justify this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened 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 being contacted daily by practices 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 not going to have any sway in the decision.
My conveyancer has informed me that chancel insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Maze Hill?
The right level of chancel indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between Nationwide Building Society and The Royal Bank of Scotland. Conveyancing practitioners as opposed to members of the public take out such policies.
is it true that all Maze Hill solicitor practices on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel are regulated by the SRA?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel they would need to be governed by the SRA. Some lenders do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such organisation would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
I have paid off my mortgage with Nottingham. I assume I don't need a Maze Hill conveyancer on the Nottingham panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Nottingham mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Nottingham mortgage from the register. Nottingham, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Nottingham has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Nottingham has instructed the Land Registry to do so
Will our lawyer be raising enquiries concerning flooding during the conveyancing in Maze Hill.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers dealing with homes in Maze Hill. There are those who purchase a property in Maze Hill, fully expectant that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical damage, where a property is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory building insurance, or dispose of the premises. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the purchaser.
Lawyers are not best placed to give advice on flood risk, however there are a number of searches that can be carried out by the buyer or by their solicitors which should give them a better understanding of the risks in Maze Hill. The standard information given to a buyer’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) incorporates a usual inquiry of the vendor to find out whether the property has ever been flooded. In the event that the property has been flooded in past and is not notified by the owner, then a buyer could commence a legal claim for losses resulting from an inaccurate reply. The buyer’s conveyancers may also commission an enviro search. This will reveal whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, more detailed inquiries should be carried out.
Are there restrictive covenants that are commonly identified during conveyancing in Maze Hill?
Covenants that are restrictive in nature can be picked up when reviewing land registry title as part of the legal transfer of property in Maze Hill. An 1874 stipulation that was seen was ‘The houses to be erected on the estate are each to be of a uniform elevation in accordance with the drawings to be prepared or approved by the vendor’s surveyor…’
Hoping to buy a property located in Maze Hill and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Maze Hill. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Maze Hill area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?
Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Maze Hill. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found
My 20yr old son is about to join the property ladder, the home loan was agreed last week in principle. One the offer was accepted on flat we contacted the mortgage company to issue the formal offer. I was very surprised to learn that banks do not accept all conveyancing practitioner, they must be on their panel, is this right?
Lenders tend to restrict either the type or the number of conveyancing solicitors on their approved list of lawyers. Typical examples of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that banks have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Maze Hill conveyancing practitioner on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Presumably not.