In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in St Nicholas? Is this really necessary?
In order to comply with Money Laundering Regulations any St Nicholas conveyancing firm will require evidence of your identity in all conveyancing matters. This is normally satisfied by provision of a passport and an original bank statement or utility account evidencing your correct address.
In accordance with Money Laundering Regulations, conveyancing solicitors are required to validate not just the identity of conveyancing clients but also the origin of the money that they receive in respect of any matter. An unwillingness to disclose this may result in your conveyancer terminating their relationship with you, as clearly this will cause a conflict between the set Regulations and a refusal to disclose.
Your conveyancers are duty bound to inform the relevant authorities should they consider that any amounts received by them may contravene the Money Laundering Regulations.
The St Nicholas conveyancing solicitors that I recently instructed on my purchase in St Nicholas have without warning closed. I only went with them because I needed a solicitor on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel and my previous St Nicholas lawyer was not. I paid them money in advance. What are my options?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors should be in a position to assist.
Me and my partner are buying a apartment in St Nicholas. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a lawyer? On the day of competition we will need to send money into their account. What is the protection 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.
We are getting a further advance on our home loan from Lloyds as we want to conduct alterations to our property in St Nicholas. Are we obliged to select a nearby St Nicholas solicitor on the Lloyds conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Lloyds would not normally appoint firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Lloyds list.
After months of negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in St Nicholas. My mortgage broker suggested a lawyer. I paid an upfront payment of £150. Soon after, the conveyancer contacted me to say that they were not on the Barclays 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 Barclays 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.
What will a local search reveal regarding the house I am buying in St Nicholas?
St Nicholas conveyancing often commences with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search organisations such as Searchflow The local search plays a central role in many a St Nicholas conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any nasty once you have moved into your property. The search should reveal information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen topic headings.
I used Stirling Law several years ago for my conveyancing in St Nicholas. Now, I need my files but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in St Nicholas of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously used, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I own a leasehold house in St Nicholas. Conveyancing and Nottingham Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in St Nicholas who previously acted has long since retired. What should I do?
The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a St Nicholas conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
I am the registered owner of a split level flat in St Nicholas, conveyancing formalities finalised March 2012. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in St Nicholas with over 90 years remaining are worth £201,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2090
With just 65 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £13,300 and £15,400 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.