The North Finchley conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my purchase in North Finchley have without warning shut down. They were on acting for me because I had to have a solicitor on the Co-operative conveyancing panel and my previous North Finchley lawyer was not. I sent them a cheque for £250 in advance. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Co-operative conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to assist.
We had chosen conveyancers located in North Finchley on the HSBC solicitor panel. They have just billed me an additional sum for the legal aspects of the HSBC mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by HSBC?
As unfair as it may seem, as long as it’s in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your conveyancer is entitled to charge a fee for this. The fee is not dictated by HSBC but by your North Finchley property lawyer. Plenty of firms on the HSBC panel will charge ’dealing with mortgage’ fee but plenty of practices include it on their overall fee.
I had a mortgage agreed in principle with Principality. North Finchley conveyancing lawyers have been instructed. What is the average time that one could expect to receive a mortgage offer from Principality?
There is no definitive answer here. Have Principality done the valuation? Have you informed Principality as to your lawyers' details and checked that your lawyers are on the Principality conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through.
I have paid off my mortgage with UBS. I assume I don't need a North Finchley solicitor on the UBS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your UBS 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 UBS mortgage from the register. UBS, 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 UBS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- UBS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I bought my house on 13 January and my personal details is not yet registered. Any reason for this? My conveyancing solicitor in North Finchley said it would be recorded in less than a month. Are properties in North Finchley particularly slow to register?
As far as conveyancing in North Finchley registration is no faster or slower than anywhere else in the country. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can vary depending on the party submitting the application, whether there are errors and if the Land registry must send notices to any other parties. As of today approximately 80% of submission are completed within 12 days but some can be subject to extensive delays. Registration takes place after the purchaser has moved in to the property therefore an expedited registration is not typically primary concern yet if there is a degree of urgency associated with the registration then you or your lawyers can speak with the land registry and explain the circumstances.
I am purchasing my first flat in North Finchley with a loan from Bank of Ireland. The developers would not move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The property agent advised me not inform my solicitor about the extras as it would impact my loan with the bank. Should I keep quiet?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I opted to have a survey carried out on a property in North Finchley in advance of instructing solicitors. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. My surveyor has said that some lenders will refuse to grant a loan on a flying freehold premises.
It varies from the lender to lender. HSBC has different instructions for example to Nationwide. If you e-mail us we can check via the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in North Finchley. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in North Finchley to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
I am looking for a conveyancing practitioner in North Finchley for my house move. Is it possible to see a firm’s complaints history with the legal regulator?
Members of the public may read documented Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations arising from investigations commenced on or after 1 January 2008. Visit Check a solicitor's record. For information about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a solicitors record, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 09.30 - 18.00 Tuesday. For non-uk callers, use +44 (0)121 329 6800. The regulator could recorded telephone calls for training purposes.