Are all Par Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the Nationwide conveyancing panel?
It is true that some lenders now use the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS membership however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for solicitors wishing to join their approved list of conveyancing solicitors.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house in Par. My mortgage broker suggested a conveyancer. I paid an advanced payment of £175. Soon after, the conveyancing practitioner called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Kent Reliance 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 Kent Reliance 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.
Planning on purchasing a apartment in Par. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Virgin Money 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 Par conveyancer is on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel.
My partner and I are selling our property in Par and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. Any high street Par conveyancer would know this is not the case. It does beg the question why the purchasers instructed an internet conveyancing outfit rather than a conveyancing solicitor in Par. We have lived in Par for six years we know that this is a non issue. Should we get in touch with our local Authority to obtain clarification need.
It sounds as though you may have a conveyancing firm already. What do they say? You need to check with your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out health insurance to cover that same illness)
How does conveyancing in Par differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Par contact us having been asked by the developer to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is ready to move into. This is because developers in Par typically acquire the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Par or who has acted in the same development.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a house in Par before instructing lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the property. Our surveyor advised that some mortgage companies tend not give a loan on a flying freehold home.
It varies from the lender to lender. Bank of Scotland has different requirements from Halifax. Should you wish to call us we can investigate further via the relevant bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Par. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
My husband and I are first time buyers - had an offer accepted, but the estate agent has warned us that the owners will only issue a contract if we instruct their preferred lawyers as they want a ‘quick sale’. We would rather use a family solicitor who is familiar with conveyancing in Par
We suspect that the owner is unaware of this demand. Should the vendor want ‘a quick sale', alienating a motivated purchaser is going to damage their objectives. Speak to the owners direct and explain that (a)you are genuine purchasers (b)you are ready to go, with mortgage lined up © you have nothing to sell (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you intend to use your own,trusted Par conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will provide their estate agent a commission or hit his conveyancing targets pre-set by head office.
My son is embarking on her first house purchase, the home loan was agreed last week in principle. After the seller agreed the offer on the house we rang the mortgage institution to issue the formal offer. I was shocked to hear that mortgage lenders do not accept all conveyancer, they need to be on their approved list, is this legal?
Mortgage Companies normally restrict either the type or the number of conveyancing solicitors on their panel. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that banks have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Par lawyer on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Unlikely.