I am progressing with the sale of my flat in New Forest and the estate agent has just e-mailed to say that the purchasers are appointing a new law firm. The excuse is that the lender will only deal with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading mortgage company only engage with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in New Forest ?
Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, 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 worked with them for many years.
Banks point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that 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. Your purchasers are not going to have any sway in the decision.
Why do I have to pay up front for my conveyancing in New Forest?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in New Forest your solicitor will ask you put them with funds to cover the search fees. Ordinarily this is needed to cover the fees of the conveyancing searches. If any down payment is payable against the purchase price then this should be required immediately before contracts are exchanged. Any further balance that is needed will be payable a few days ahead of the day of completion.
I am the single recipient of my late mum's estate and I have everything in my name now, including the house in New Forest. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in January. I now wish to sell up. I do know about the CML six month 'rule', which means that my property ownership will be treated the same way as though I had purchased the house in January. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook requires solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you may be impacted by that. How sensible a view lenders take of it, depend on the lender as this clause principally exists to pick up on subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.
is it true that all New Forest solicitor practices on the Co-operative conveyancing panel are overseen by the SRA?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Co-operative approved list of solicitors they would need to be governed by the SRA. Some mortgage companies do list licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be overseen by the CLC.
I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment in New Forest. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an upfront payment of £225. Soon after, the property lawyer called me to say 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.
My wife and I have a renovated Edwardian house in New Forest. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and Santander. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the matching property. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in New Forest and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they mortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing practitioner who conducted the conveyancing.
I am buying a new build apartment in New Forest. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build legal work.
Set out below is a sample of a selection of leasehold new build enquiries that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in New Forest
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Please supply a car parking plan. Where there is an Undertaking being granted there is the risk of forfeiture of the Headlease subject to relief if one or more of the Underlessees are willing to accept the original Head Lessee’s obligations as otherwise relief will be denied to the Underlessees. The only alternatives are the Head Lessor agreeing not to forfeit the Headlease or the Head Lessee guaranteeing to the Underlessees that it will not be in breach of the Headlease. Will control of the Management Company (if any) be handed over to purchasers on completion of the last sale or earlier? Has the Lease plan been approved by the Land Registry and if not when will they be lodged for this purpose? Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company?
I need to instruct a conveyancing practitioner in New Forest for my house move. Can I check a solicitor's record with the profession’s regulator?
One may read documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations resulting from inquisitions started on or after 1 January 2008. Visit Check a solicitor's record. For records Pre 2008, or to check a solicitors record, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 any week day save for Tuesday when lines open at 9.30am. For non-uk callers, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator could recorded call for training reasons.