Am I correct in assuming that the fact that my conveyancer in Stevenage is not identified on my mortgage company's conveyancing panel that there is a problem with the standard of his work?
That is more than likely an incorrect assumption to make. There are plenty of reasonable explanations. A recent report by the solicitors regulator indicated that over three quarters of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The most common reasons for removal are: (1) low volume of transactions (2) the solicitor 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 simply call the Stevenage conveyancing firm and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for your mortgage company.
Please explain the implications if my solicitor is expelled from the Coventry BS Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Stevenage?
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 at a cost.
We previously appointed conveyancers with offices in Stevenage on the Santander solicitor panel. They are now charging me an additional charge for handling the Santander mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Santander?
Provided it is contained in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your lawyer is entitled to levy a fee for this. The fee is not set by Santander but by your Stevenage property lawyer. Plenty of firms on the Santander panel will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Virgin Money as we intend to conduct improvements to our home in Stevenage. Do we need to appoint a high street Stevenage solicitor on the Virgin Money conveyancing panel to handle the paperwork?
Virgin Money do not ordinarily appoint a member of 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 Virgin Money list.
Planning on purchasing a apartment in Stevenage. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Building Society if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Stevenage lawyer is on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel.
I used Action Conveyancing several years past for my conveyancing in Stevenage. I now require my file however cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracking down 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 Stevenage 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 decided to have a survey done on a property in Stevenage ahead of instructing solicitors. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. Our surveyor has said that some mortgage companies may refuse to give a mortgage on this type of house.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Lloyds has different requirements from Halifax. If you call us we can check with the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Stevenage. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Stevenage especially if they are accustomed to such properties in Stevenage.
Are there any apps to help locate a Stevenage solicitor on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel? I have a car and am happy to travel upto 25kilometers to meet the solicitor.
You can use the search on this page. Please select a mortgage company and your location and you will see a number of Stevenage conveyancing lawyers based on proximity. We have detailed some Stevenage conveyancing firms at the bottom of this page and you can telephone them to verify whether they are on the Leeds Building Society approved list