The loan agreement from HSBC for the remortgage of my 2 room maisonette is due within the next few days. Are you able to recommend a low cost conveyancing practitioner in Standish?
You are on the wrong site if you are in need of the lowest fares for conveyancing solicitors in Standish. Our goal is to offer affordable conveyancing but we do not aim to work with the cheapest lawyers. Resist the temptation to appoint brokers offering ninety nine pound conveyancing in Standish. At best, in going for cheap conveyancing, you will earn what you pay for and at worst you will end up paying a lot in additional fees and still not get the service required.
My wife and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Standish with HSBC. We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the HSBC conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to HSBC. This is solely used to protect HSBC if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of HSBC had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Standish? Why is this being asked of me?
In order to comply with Money Laundering Regulations any Standish conveyancing firm will require proof of identity in all conveyancing transactions. This is usually satisfied by provision of a passport and an original bank statement or utility bill evidencing your correct address.
In accordance with Money Laundering Regulations, conveyancing solicitors are duty bound to check not just the ID of conveyancing clients but also the origin of fund that they receive in respect of any matter. Refusal to disclose this will lead to your lawyer cancelling their retainer with you, as clearly this will cause a conflict between the set Regulations and a refusal to disclose.
Your property lawyers are duty bound to notify the relevant authorities should they believe that any amounts received by them may contravene the Money Laundering Regulations.
Can you clarify what the consequences are if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the Leeds Building Society Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Standish?
The first thing to point out is that, 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 for a fee.
Me and my partner are purchasing a property in Standish. It might be a silly question but how we can trust a solicitor? At some point we will need to deposit funds into their account. What protection do we have from them run away with our deposit?
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.
I have paid off my mortgage with Co-operative. I assume I don't need a Standish conveyancing practitioner on the Co-operative panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Co-operative 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 Co-operative mortgage from the register. Co-operative, 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 Co-operative has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Co-operative has instructed the Land Registry to do so
I was told four weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed to by Leeds Building Society. Is it usual for Leeds Building Society to only issue the offer once my solicitor in Standish is approved on their conveyancing panel? Leeds Building Society have asked my solicitor to see a copy of their PI Insurance.
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Leeds Building Society to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.
The deeds to our property are lost. The solicitors who did the conveyancing in Standish 10 years ago no longer exist. What are my options?
As long as you have a registered title the details of your proprietorship will be held by the Land Registry under a Title Number. It is easy to carry out a search at the Land Registry, identify your house and secure current copies of the property title for a small fee. Where the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will in most cases hold a file duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be ordered for a small fee.