I am progressing with the sale of my home in Skelmersdale and the EA has just text me to warn that the buyers are switching property lawyer. I am told that this is due to the fact that the lender will only engage with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a major lender only work with specific solicitors rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Skelmersdale ?
Banks have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as Yorkshire Building Society, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have acted for them for decades.
Lending institutions point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to maintain. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The buyers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.
My husband and I intend to remortgage our flat in Skelmersdale with Virgin Money. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Virgin Money conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this extinguish his rights 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 Virgin Money. This is solely used to protect Virgin Money 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 Virgin Money 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.
Completion of my purchase has taken place for my property in Skelmersdale. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
Almost all lenders have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service with full details of your complaint.
About to purchase flat in Skelmersdale. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the RBS 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 Skelmersdale conveyancer is on the RBS conveyancing panel.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a Skelmersdale lawyer having checked that they are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
Nationwide will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Nationwide will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. You may wish to consider appointing your own Skelmersdale surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
I am purchasing my first flat in Skelmersdale with a mortgage from Nationwide Building Society. The sellers refused to move on the price so I negotiated £7000 of extras instead. The sale representative suggested that I not reveal to my lawyer about this extras as it will affect my loan with Nationwide Building Society. 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.
I am looking into buying my first house which is in Skelmersdale and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Skelmersdale. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Skelmersdale area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?
Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Skelmersdale. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found
My husband and I are novice buyers - had an offer accepted, yet the estate agent advised that the owners will only go ahead if we use the agent's chosen lawyers as they need an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a local conveyancer used to conveyancing in Skelmersdale
We suspect that the owner is unaware of this ultimatum. If they desire ‘a quick sale', taking such a hostile approach to a genuine buyer is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Try to communicate with the vendors directly and make the point that (a)you are genuine purchasers (b)you are ready to go, with finances in place © you are unencumbered (d) you wish to move quickly (e)but you intend to instruct your own,trusted Skelmersdale conveyancing solicitors - as opposed tothe ones that will give the negotiator at the agency a introducer fee or meet his conveyancing figures set by HQ.