I am progressing with the sale of my apartment in Water Orton and the EA has just called to say that the purchasers are appointing a new law firm. I am told that this is due to the fact that the mortgage company will only engage with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading mortgage company only engage with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to choose to handle their conveyancing in Water Orton ?
Lenders have always had an approved set of law firms they are content to work with, but in recent years big names such as Santander, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for many years.
Lenders attribute this action to a rise in fraud as the reason for the reduction – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Some are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your buyers are not going to have any sway in the decision.
My husband and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in Water Orton with Santander. We have a son 19 who lives at home. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Santander conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise his entitlement to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Santander conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing 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 Santander. This is solely used to protect Santander 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 Santander 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.
Do banks and building societies provide you with an approved list of Water Orton conveyancing solicitors? How do you know who is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel?
Water Orton conveyancing firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Kent Reliance directly.
There are numerous conveyancing solicitors in Water Orton but how do I know who's good?
It would be unwise to be swayed by the lowest Water Orton conveyancing quote. You really do get what you pay for when it comes to property lawyers. A cheap quote may mean that the conveyancing solicitor is handling a lot of jobs at one time and you won’t get the quality of service and the attention that you need. It is, however, wise to use a conveyancer who has a fixed fee on a no sale, no fee basis. This way, you go into the conveyancing with your eyes wide open.
We had selected conveyancing lawyers based in Water Orton on the Leeds Building Society solicitor panel. They are now charging me a further amount for the legal aspects of the Leeds Building Society mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Leeds Building Society?
Unfortunately, so long as it is in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your conveyancer is entitled to charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by Leeds Building Society but by your Water Orton conveyancing practitioner. Plenty of firms on the Leeds Building Society panel will levy ’dealing with mortgage’ fee and others do not.
I'm at the point of viewing houses in Water Orton and I am about to put in an offer. Is it sensible to have a property lawyer on ‘stand by’? I am planning to take a mortgage with Barclays.
You should start requesting conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the selling agent. Given that you are getting a mortgage with Barclays, ask your prospective lawyers if they are on the Barclays conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I put an offer in last month in what was supposed to be a simple, no chain conveyancing. Water Orton is the location of the property. Is there any guidance you can impart?
Flying freeholds in Water Orton are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Water Orton you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Water Orton 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 residence.
Am I better off to appoint a Water Orton conveyancing practitioner based in the area that I am hoping to buy? I have an old university friend who can execute the conveyancing but his firm is located approximately 350kilometers away.
The benefit of a high street Water Orton conveyancing practice is that you can drop in to sign paperwork, deliver your identification documents and pester them if necessary. Having local Water Orton know how is a plus. That being said nothing is more important than finding someone that will do a good and efficient job. If you know people who used your friend and the majority were impressed that must surpass using an unfamiliar Water Orton conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being local.