I am not in a position to travel far from Ravenglass. I would like to know the understand why all Ravenglass solicitors aren't automatically on all mortgage company panels?
A decade ago most banks demonstrated an approach to risk which differs from the current day. The financial regulator in 2010 conducted a thematic review into property fraud which in summary warned lenders: know the solicitors on your panel. As a result, lenders have subsequently looked to extract more information from law firms about their operations and the staff employed by them and set certain criteria such as completing a minimum number of transactions. Thousands of law practices have found themselves excluded from lender panels even though they had an exemplary disciplinary record, no complaints and no claims and didn't just 'dabble' in conveyancing. Many firms were never going to meet the criteria of amount of transactions the lenders set.
My wife and I changing mortgage lender for our apartment in Ravenglass with UBS. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this document specific to the UBS conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise his entitlement to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to UBS. This is solely used to protect UBS if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of UBS had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
The Ravenglass conveyancing firm that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Ravenglass have without warning closed. I chose them because I needed a firm on the Co-operative conveyancing panel and my family Ravenglass lawyer was not. I paid them 275 plus VAT in advance. What should be my next steps?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to 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 lawyers may be able to assist.
I have been told that property searches are the main reason for hinderance in Ravenglass house deals. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the common causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Searches are not likely to be the root cause of slowing down conveyancing in Ravenglass.
Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold flat in Ravenglass. Conveyancing and Chelsea Building Society mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Ravenglass who previously acted has now retired. Any advice?
The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Ravenglass conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
I invested in buying a split level flat in Ravenglass, conveyancing was carried out 4 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent flats in Ravenglass with an extended lease are worth £227,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2098
With only 72 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as costs.
The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.
My parents are unable to locate their Ravenglass land registry title on the site. They have a vague recollection back in the 70’s when they bought the bungalow there were complications regarding the address not being identified on some systems.
The vast majority of properties in Ravenglass should appear. Have you limited your search with just the postcode. Normally it will reveal all the premises inside the postcode. Assuming the property is registered it will be there with a title number. If they bought back in the 60’s it's conceivable it may be unregistered. The property may still be revealed but with the title number shown 'na'. In this scenario you will need to track down the original title deeds which may be with your parent’s mortgage company.