I am progressing with the sale of my house in Southwick and the EA has just called to say that the buyers are switching property lawyer. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only deal with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a big named lender only engage with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to select to handle their conveyancing in Southwick ?
Lenders have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the last few years big names such as HSBC, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for decades.
Lending institutions point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been tightened as a smaller panel is easier to monitor. No lender will say 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 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. Your buyers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
My husband and I are nearing an exchange on a flat in Southwick and my mum and dad have sent the ten percent deposit to my solicitor. I am now told that as the deposit has been received from someone other than me my conveyancing practitioner needs to make a notification to my bank. I am advised that, in also acting for the bank he must advise them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I disclosed to the bank concerning my parents' contribution when I applied for the home loan, so is it really appropriate for this now to delay the deal?
Your property lawyer is obliged to check with mortgage company to make sure that they know that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. The solicitor can only disclose this to your lender if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
Do lawyers request money up-front when it comes to conveyancing in Southwick?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Southwick your lawyer will request that you place them with funds to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. Generally this is requested to cover the fees of the conveyancing searches. When the deposit is as part of the sale price then this should be asked for shortly ahead of exchange of contracts. The final balance that is needed should be sent to your lawyer a few days ahead of the completion date.
My aunt passed away six months ago and as sole heir and executor I was left the house in Southwick. The house had a relatively small loan left on it of around £5k. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Santander, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
Given you intend to refinance then Santander will require that you use a conveyancer on the Santander conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Santander conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Santander mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
Should I use a Southwick conveyancing practitioner in close proximity to the house I am purchasing? I have an old university friend who can conduct the legal work however they are based over three hundred miles away.
The benefit of a local Southwick conveyancing practice is that you can visit the firm to execute paperwork, present your ID and pester them where appropriate. Having local Southwick know how is a bonus. However it's more important to get someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who used your friend and the majority were happy that must outweigh using an unknown Southwick conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being Southwick based.
Do online conveyancing organisations do everything a high street Southwick solicitor does or do I still need to employ a solicitor for the final stages for my conveyancing in Southwick?
Where you use an online conveyancer they will cover all the things your Southwick solicitor would cover.