I am six weeks into the sale of my home in St James and the estate agent has just e-mailed to advise that the buyers are swapping conveyancer. The reason given is that the lender will only engage with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a major lender only engage with certain law firms rather the firm that they want to select for their conveyancing in St James ?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms that can act for them, but in recent years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for decades.
Lenders attribute this action to a rise in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been tightened 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 says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms 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. Your buyers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
My wife and I are approaching an exchange on a property in St James and my parents have sent the ten percent deposit to my lawyer. I am now advised that as the deposit has not come from me my property lawyer needs to make a notification to my mortgage company. I am advised that, in also acting for the mortgage company he must inform them that the balance of the purchase price is coming from anyone other than me. I disclosed to the lender about my parents' contribution when I applied for the home loan, so is it really appropriate for him to raise this?
The solicitor is duty bound to clarify with lender to ensure that they know that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. The solicitor can only report this to your lender if you permit them to, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
Me and my partner are purchasing a property in St James. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a lawyer? At some point we will need to put our life savings into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our monies?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
is it true that all St James solicitor firms on the Barclays conveyancing panel are overseen by the SRA?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Barclays approved list of solicitors they would need to be regulated by the SRA. The majority of banks do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such organisation would be overseen by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
I currently have a mortgage with HSBC for my property in St James. Conveyancing was finalised 12 months ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform HSBC?
HSBC must be informed of your intention in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of HSBC’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact HSBC directly. You need not do this via a HSBC conveyancing panel solicitor.
The deeds to my property are lost. The conveyancers who handled the conveyancing in St James 4 years ago are no longer around. What are my options?
Assuming you have a registered title the information relating to your proprietorship will be recorded by the Land Registry under a Title Number. It is possible to execute a search at the Land Registry, identify your property and order current copies of the Registered Entries for less than a fiver. If the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases hold a certified duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for twenty pounds.
I decided to have a survey done on a house in St James prior to instructing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold overhang to the property. Our surveyor advised that some lenders may refuse to give a mortgage on a flying freehold house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different instructions from Birmingham Midshires. If you e-mail us we can look into this further via the relevant mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in St James. Conveyancing may be slightly more expensive based on your lender's requirements.
In my capacity as executor for the will of my father I am disposing of a property in Monmouth but reside in St James. My solicitor (based 200 kilometers awayrequires that I sign a stat dec ahead of completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing lawyer in St James who can attest this legal document for me?
Technically speaking you should not be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally or notary public or solicitor will be fine regardless of whether they are based in St James