My fiance and I are looking to buy a flat in Tavistock and are in fact using a Tavistock conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Britannia have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Tavistock lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Tavistock solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I used Arc property Solicitors a few years ago for my conveyancing in Tavistock. I now require my file but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
You should contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate 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 Tavistock of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £195,000 and identified one round the corner in Tavistock I like with amenity areas and railway links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 49 remaining years left on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Tavistock suitable, so just wondered if I would be making a mistake acquiring a lease with such few years left?
Should you require a home loan that many years may be problematic. Reduce the price by the anticipated lease extension will cost if not already taken into account. If the existing proprietor has owned the premises for at least 2 years you may request that they commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing lawyer about this matter.
What does commercial conveyancing in Tavistock cover?
Commercial conveyancing in Tavistock incorporates a wide array of services, offered by qualified solicitors, relating to business property. By way of example, this type of conveyancing can cover the sale or purchase of freehold business premises or, more usually, the assignment of existing business tenancies or the drafting of new leasing arrangements. Commercial conveyancing solicitors can also offer advice on the sale of business assets, commercial mortgages and the termination of leases.
Is it best to go with a Tavistock conveyancing solicitor in close proximity to the house I am buying? I have an old university friend who can execute the legal work but her office is 400kilometers drive away.
The benefit of a high street Tavistock conveyancing practice is that you can visit the firm to execute documents, present your identification documents and apply pressure on them where appropriate. They will also have local intelligence which is a bonus. However nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If other friends have instructed your friend and on the whole were impressed that must surpass using an unfamiliar Tavistock conveyancing lawyer just because they are Tavistock based.
Much to my surprise my solicitor in Tavistock has informed me that he requires proof of ID documents asserting that this forms part of his legal duty as a solicitor on the bank Solicitor panel. Am I being spun a yarn?
Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules require Tavistock conveyancing solicitors and licensed conveyancers to verify the identity of the person or body they are dealing with before they can accept their conveyancing business. The Client Care letter that you need to sign will no doubt confirm this. Your lawyer is right that the lender also require certain documents to be viewed. If a you refuse to provide ID verification documents, your conveyancer would not be able to accept instructions from you. Your lawyer also has obligations to obtain certain documents in accordance with the bank's UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements