My fiance and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Totteridge with Leeds Building Society. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right 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 Leeds Building Society. This is solely used to protect Leeds Building Society 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 Leeds Building Society 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.
Why do I have to pay up front when it comes to conveyancing in Totteridge?
Where you are retaining lawyers for conveyancing in Totteridge your lawyer will request that you put them with funds to cover the the cost of the conveyancing searches. This will be the total of the cost of the conveyancing searches. When the deposit is as part of the purchase price then this will be required shortly prior to contracts are exchanged. The closing balance that is needed should be sent to your lawyer shortly before completion.
My Conveyancer in Totteridge is not listed on the Leeds Building Society Solicitor Panel. Can I still continue with my family solicitor even though they are not on the Leeds Building Society panel?
Your options are as follows:
- Complete the purchase with your preferred Totteridge lawyers but Leeds Building Society will need to use a lawyer on their panel. This will inevitably rack up the total conveyancing fees as well as result in delays.
- Choose a new solicitor to act in the conveyancing, remembering to check they are Leeds Building Society approved.
- Try to convince your Leeds Building Society based solicitor to seek to join the Leeds Building Society panel
I used Wolstenholmes several years past for my conveyancing in Totteridge. I now require my papers but cannot find the solicitor. What do I do?
Do 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 Totteridge 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've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I put an offer in two weeks back in what should have been a straight forward, no chain conveyancing. Totteridge is where the house is located. Can you offer any advice?
Flying freeholds in Totteridge are not the norm but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Totteridge you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Totteridge may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.
Our solicitor in Totteridge has informed me that he requires ID documents asserting that this forms part of his retainer as a conveyancer on the mortgage company Solicitor panel. Can you confirm whether this is the case?
Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules require Totteridge 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 Terms and Conditions that you need to sign will no doubt confirm this. Your lawyer is right that the bank 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 mortgage company's UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements