Am I correct in assuming that the fact that my solicitor in St Ives is not listed on my mortgage company's solicitor panel that there is a problem with the standard of the firm’s conveyancing?
It would be unwise to jump to that conclusion. There are plenty of plausible explanations. Just recently a report by the solicitors regulator revealed that over three quarters of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The top 5 reasons are as follows: (1) low volume of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. Where you are concerned you should contact the St Ives conveyancing firm and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for your bank.
Completed the sale of my flat in St Ives last August yet the purchaser is whats apping me to say their conveyancer is waiting to hear from mine. What should have happened following completion?
Following your sale your solicitor is obliged to deliver the transfer deeds and all additional paperwork to the buyer’s conveyancer. Where appropriate, your solicitor must also send confirmation that the mortgage has been redeemed to the buyers lawyers. There are no post completion tasks just for conveyancing in St Ives.
I own a renovated Edwardian property in St Ives. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Barclays . I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw a couple of entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the matching address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to read 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 proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in St Ives and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing practitioner who completed the work.
I need to retain a conveyancing solicitor for freehold conveyancing in St Ives. I happened to discover a site which looks to be the perfect solution If it is possible to get all the legals completed via phone that would be ideal. Should I be concerned? What are the potential pitfalls?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?
I own a leasehold flat in St Ives. Conveyancing and Bank of Scotland mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in St Ives who previously acted has now retired. Any advice?
First contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a St Ives conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
I am the registered owner of a leasehold flat in St Ives, conveyancing was carried out June 2008. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in St Ives with an extended lease are worth £211,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2093
With just 68 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.
The property lawyers carrying out our conveyancing in St Ives has sent papers to review that show the land is unregistered with epitome documents. Is it not the case that all properties in St Ives are registered?
Almost 100% of property in St Ives is registered. An 'epitome' is basically a dossier of photocopies of documents affecting an unregistered title. Plenty of St Ives conveyancing practitioners should be capable of dealing with this type of conveyancing but in the event that uncertainty prevails the prevailing advice presently seems to be for the vendor’s solicitor to register the title first and subsequently deal with the sale conveyance - this no doubt cause a significant delay.