Me and my fiance are buying a 2 bedroom apartment in South Molton with a mortgage. We wish to retain our South Molton solicitor, however the lender advise he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the mortgage company panel conveyancing practices or continue with our South Molton property lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This feels very unfair; can we not demand that the bank use our South Molton conveyancer ?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the lender’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your South Molton conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
We note that you have a post code search directory listing firms on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel. Do companies pay you a referral fee if I appoint them for our conveyancing in South Molton?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint for your conveyancing in South Molton.
What happens if my lawyer’s firm is suspended from the Nationwide Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in South Molton?
First, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unexperienced as a 1st time buyer of a garden flat in South Molton. Do I receive the keys to the house on completion from my conveyancer? If so, I will find a High Street conveyancing solicitor in South Molton?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will electronically transfer the purchase money to the vendor’s conveyancers, and once they have received this, you should be invited to pick up the keys from the selling Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen early afternoon.
I have paid off my mortgage with Coventry BS. I assume I don't need a South Molton conveyancer on the Coventry BS panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Coventry BS mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Coventry BS mortgage from the register. Coventry BS, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Coventry BS has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Coventry BS has instructed the Land Registry to do so
After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in South Molton. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their property lawyer. I paid an upfront payment of £175. A few days later, the conveyancer called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Co-operative 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 Co-operative 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.
I am 3 weeks into a residential purchase having been referred to a firm by the local agent to do our conveyancing in South Molton. We are not happy. Can you help me find new lawyers?
They would have to be really poor to suggest diss instructing them. Has the mortgage offer been generated? If so you will need to inform them of the replacement lawyer and have the loan are re-sent. The solicitor ideally should be on the banks panel to avoid added fees and complications. So that should be your first question of the new solicitors. Our search tool will assist you in finding a lender approved lawyer for your conveyancing in South Molton
My wife and I have selected a South Molton conveyancing solicitor for our home move (FTB’s) and have spotted in the Ts and Cs that they are not overseen by the FCA. Should I be worried or is that standard with property lawyer?
We can't see why they should be. Most conveyancer don't lend money. You should check that they are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, who set strict conditions regulating funds held in their bank.