I am selling my ground floor flat in Penzance and the EA has just text me to warn that the purchasers are swapping property lawyer. The reason given is that the lender will only deal with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a leading mortgage company only work with specific lawyers rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Penzance ?
Banks have always had panels of law firms they are content to work with, but in the last 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 more than 15 years.
Banks attribute this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the reduction – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say 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. The purchasers are not going to have any impact on this.
A colleague pointed out to me me that in purchasing a property in Penzance there could be a number of restrictions preventing external changes to a property. Is this right?
There are anumerous of properties in Penzance which have some sort of restriction or requirement of consent to perform external variations. Part of the conveyancing in Penzance should determine what restrictions are applicable and advising you as part of a ROT that should be sent to you.
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Penzance. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Almost all lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
I was told four weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by TSB. Is it usual for TSB to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Penzance is approved on their conveyancing panel? TSB have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their Professional Indemnity Insurance Schedule.
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for TSB to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the TSB conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
My wife and I purchased a renovated Georgian property in Penzance. Conveyancing practitioner represented me and Santander. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are a couple of entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold under the exact same address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should review 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 Penzance and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they buy they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also question the position with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the conveyancing.
I'm purchasing a new build house in Penzance with the aid of help to buy. The sellers would not move on the amount so I negotiated 6k of extras instead. The property agent suggested that I not disclose to my solicitor about the extras as it may adversely affect my mortgage with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder 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.
Am I best advised to use a Penzance conveyancing lawyer based in the vicinity that I am buying? An old friend can conduct the conveyancing however they are based 200miles drive away.
The benefit of a local Penzance conveyancing practice is that you can attend the office to execute paperwork, present your identification documents and apply pressure on them if necessary. Having local Penzance know how is a plus. However it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If if people you trust instructed your friend and they were content that should surpass using an unknown Penzance conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being round the corner.
My wife and I are purchasing a first floor flat in Penzance. When we first instructed conveyancer, they assured us that they were on all major UK lender panels. The financial adviser called yesterday to say that they are not on the UBS approved list. Should that be true, what should we do? Should we simply find a different property lawyer that is on their approved list or should we cover the costs for dual representation, with UBS selecting their own preferred conveyancer.
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is normal for the buyer’s lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a property lawyer has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the lawyer to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict conditions which the property lawyer has to fulfill. Some banks now insist their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your conveyancing practitioner should contact UBS to discover 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 UBS's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Penzance solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.