My fiance and I are planning to buy a property in Neath Abbey and are in fact using a Neath Abbey conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Lloyds TSB Bank have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Neath Abbey solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for the mortgage company. 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your lender 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Neath Abbey lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
My nephew is about to exchange on a house that has just been built in Neath Abbey with a home loan from Santander. His conveyancer has advised him of a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. What is this document - I have never come across this before?
The form is intended to provide information to the main parties engaged in the purchase. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Santander conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the valuer when asked. The developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it. The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Santander conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
Do I select a Licenced Conveyancer or Solicitor for conveyancing in Neath Abbey?
There are two types of lawyers who can perform conveyancing in Neath Abbey namely licenced conveyancers or solicitors. The two can provide conveyancing services that required to complete the disposal or acquisition of property. Both are required to carry out Neath Abbey conveyancing to the same quality and guidelines so you can be safe in the knowledge that your conveyancing will be professionally conducted and that all requirements and procedures should be correctly followed.
I happen to be the sole beneficiary of my late father’s will with all property in now in my sole name, including the my former home in Neath Abbey. The Neath Abbey property was put into my name in August. I want to move. I understand that there is a CML six month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship could be regarded the same way as if I'd bought the property in August. Do I have to wait half a year to sell?
The CML handbook obliges conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you might be affected by that. How sensible a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the bank as this clause is chiefly there to pick up on the purchase and immediately sell or the wholesaling and assigning of property.
I recently had an offer agreed on an apartment in Neath Abbey. My financial adviser recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £175. Soon after, the conveyancer contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Santander 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 Santander 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.
Various online forums that I have frequented warn that are the primary reason for stalling in Neath Abbey house deals. Is this right?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) has noted the determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the most frequent causes of hindrances during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are unlikely to feature in any slowing down conveyancing in Neath Abbey.
I used Stirling Law several years ago for my conveyancing in Neath Abbey. I now require my papers but the law firm has closed. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Neath Abbey of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Are there any apps to help find a Neath Abbey conveyancing solicitor on the mortgage company conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 20miles to attend the solicitor.
Feel free to make use of the find a conveyancing panel search on this page. Please choose the lender and your location, in this case Neath Abbey and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest Neath Abbey. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the bank solicitor panel.