My fiance and I are planning to buy a flat in Oldham and have instructed a Oldham conveyancing firm. 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. Norwich and Peterborough Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Oldham lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers 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 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 solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Oldham lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
The Oldham conveyancing firm that I appointed last week on my purchase in Oldham have without warning shut down. They were on acting for me because I needed a firm on the Barclays conveyancing panel and my preferred Oldham lawyer was not. I paid them money on account. What are my options?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away 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 Barclays 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.
I am the only beneficiary of my late father’s estate and I have everything in my name now, including the house in Oldham. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in September. I plan to dispose of the house. I do know about the Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship will be regarded the same way as though I had purchased the property in September. Do I have to wait half a year to sell?
The CML handbook requires solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you could be impacted by that. many mortgage companies would take a sensible view as this obligation principally exists to capture subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of property.
When it comes to lenders such as UBS, do Oldham solicitors face a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any lender fees to be on their panel, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
Does a directory service exist listing Barclays panel solicitors in Oldham on the Council of Mortgage Lender’s Website?
No. There is no such directory service on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association websites. Very few lending institutions make their panel listings visible over the internet. Where you are seeking to appoint a Oldham property lawyer on the Barclays please make the most of our tool.
My relative recommended that if I am purchasing in Oldham I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
This is a search is sometimes included in the estimate for your Oldham conveyancing searches. It is not a small document of more than thirty pages, listing and setting out significant information about Oldham around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Oldham Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Oldham Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data concerning Oldham.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our property are lost. The lawyers who handled the conveyancing in Oldham 5 years ago are no longer around. What do I do?
In today’s world there are duplicates made of almost everything, and your conveyancer will know exactly where to look for all the relevant documentation so you can purchase or sell your property without a hitch. If copies can’t be found, your lawyer can put in place insurance or indemnities against possible claims on the premises.
Is it simple use your search facility to locate a conveyancing lawyer in Oldham on the authorised to act for my bank?
1st choose a bank such as HSBC Bank, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society or Britannia then choose your location a common one being Oldham. Conveyancing organisations in Oldham and beyond will then be listed.