My partner and I are planning to purchase a home in Monkseaton and have instructed a Monkseaton conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Chelsea Building Society have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Monkseaton lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors 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 as you are at liberty to use your preferred Monkseaton lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as RBS, do Monkseaton property lawyers face a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any bank fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
We were going to get a AIP from Virgin Money this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we are dependent on web based calculators (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc). Do Virgin Money recommend any Monkseaton solicitors on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer?
You will need to appoint Monkseaton solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and Virgin Money through the process.
Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Monkseaton. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Most lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Team at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service with full details of your complaint.
Various web forums that I have visited warn that are the main cause of hinderance in Monkseaton conveyancing transactions. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published findings of research by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the common causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are unlikely to be the root cause of delay in conveyancing in Monkseaton.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a property in Monkseaton ahead of retaining lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. Our surveyor has said that some lenders may not issue a mortgage on this type of premises.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Nationwide. If you contact us we can check via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Monkseaton. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Monkseaton to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Monkseaton. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.
Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Monkseaton - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.
Monkseaton Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask before Purchasing
-
How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? The answer will be helpful as a) areas may result in problems in the block as the common areas may start to deteriorate where maintenance are not paid for b) if the tenants have an issue with the running of the building you will want to have full disclosure Is the freehold owned jointly by the leaseholders?
A licensed conveyancer handled my conveyancing in Monkseaton 5 years past and was holding my deeds but has since been shut down – how do I get hold of these?
Title deeds, as such, no longer exist as most properties in Monkseaton are recorded electronically at Land Registry. Where you need to show ownership or are selling or re-mortgaging your conveyancing practitioner will need to obtain up to date copies of the register from the Land Registry in any case.
If you feel there may be other documents or you have any other queries please e-mail your request with details of the transaction and documents you need to filerequest@clc-uk.org. The CLC will let you know what information they have and any additional information they may need before they are in a position to identify and send the documents to you. Following an intervention it may take some time for the CLC to access archived files and documents, but your request will be actioned with reasonable haste.