My wife and I are hoping to buy a house in Warwick and are in fact using a Warwick conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Bank of Ireland have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Warwick conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is normal for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 property lawyer should contact your mortgage company and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Warwick solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
As someone unfamiliar with conveyancing in Warwick what is the number one tip you can give me for the ownership transfer in Warwick
You may not hear this from too many lawyers but conveyancing in Warwick and elsewhere in Warwickshire is often a confrontational process. In other words, when it comes to conveyancing there is lots of opportunity for confrontation between you and other parties involved in the transaction. For example, the seller, estate agent and on occasion your mortgage company. Choosing a solicitor for your conveyancing in Warwick an important selection as your conveyancer is your adviser, and is the ONE person in the transaction whose interest is to look after your legal interests and to keep you safe.
On occasion a potential adversary will try and sway you that you should follow their advice. For example, the estate agent may claim to be helping by suggesting your conveyancer is dragging his heels. Or your financial adviser may tell you to do something that is against your lawyers advice. You should always trust your lawyer above all other parties when it comes to the legal transfer of property.
Is it the case that all Warwick CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Skipton conveyancing list of approved firms?
A selection of banks and building societies now utilise the accreditation scheme as the kick off point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS accreditation however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to join their panels.
I currently have a mortgage with Bank of Ireland for my property in Warwick. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Bank of Ireland?
You must advise Bank of Ireland before renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Bank of Ireland’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Bank of Ireland directly. You need not do this via a Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel solicitor.
I am selling my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in April 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, Barclays are being a right pain. The Warwick solicitor who is on the Barclays conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Barclays are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Barclays have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Barclays have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Barclays may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
We are downsizing from our house in Warwick and the buyers lawyers are claiming that there is a possibility that the property was built on contaminated land. A high street Warwick conveyancer would know that there is no such problem. It does beg the question why the buyers are using an internet conveyancing practice as opposed to a conveyancing solicitor in Warwick. Having lived in Warwick for three years we know that this is a non issue. Do we contact our local Authority to obtain clarification need.
It would appear that you have a conveyancing lawyer currently acting for you. What do they say? You should enquire of your lawyer before you do anything. It is very possible that once the local authority has been informed of a potential issue it cannot be insured against (a bit like being diagnosed with a serious illness and then taking out life insurance to cover that same ailment)
I'm buying a new build house in Warwick with a loan from Lloyds TSB Bank. The developers refused to budge the amount so I negotiated £7000 of additionals instead. The house builders rep told me not disclose to my conveyancer about the deal as it will jeopardize my mortgage with the bank. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I put an offer in a fortnight ago in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Warwick is the location of the property. What do you suggest?
Flying freeholds in Warwick are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Warwick you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds thoroughly. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Warwick 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.