I am progressing with the sale of my home in Monmouth and the estate agent has just text me to say that the buyers are changing their property lawyer. The reason given is that the lender will only deal with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a big named lender only engage with certain lawyers rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Monmouth ?
Banks have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for decades.
Banks point to the increase in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. 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. Some 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 purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
Are the Monmouth conveyancing solicitors identified as being on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Clydesdale?
Monmouth conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Clydesdale directly.
My flat in Monmouth is up for sale and I have accepted an offer. Does my solicitor need to be on the UBS conveyancing panel in order to deal with repayment of my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the UBS conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their specifications fairly frequently currently.
is it true that all Monmouth solicitor practices on the RBS conveyancing panel are regulated by the SRA?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the RBS approved list of solicitors they would need to be governed by the SRA. Many mortgage companies do list licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be governed by the CLC.
I recently had an offer agreed on a house in Monmouth. My mortgage broker suggested a conveyancing practitioner. I paid an advanced payment of £225. A few days later, the conveyancer called me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Skipton conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Skipton panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
Intending to buy a maisonette in Monmouth. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Monmouth property lawyer is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel.
Is it simple use your search app to locate a conveyancing lawyer in Monmouth on the authorised to act for my mortgage?
Step one is to select a mortgage company such as Barclays , Chelsea Building Society or Godiva Mortgages Ltd then choose your location e.g. Monmouth. Conveyancing firms in Monmouth and beyond will then be listed.
My partner has suggested that I use his lawyers for conveyancing in Monmouth. Should I use them?
No doubt it’s preferable to find a conveyancing lawyer is to have recommendations from friends or family who have actually experience in using the conveyancer you're are thinking of instructing.