Much to our surprise we have been notified by our mortgage adviser that my Watnall lawyer is not on the lender Solicitor panel. How can I be sure if this is correct?
The first thing you need to do is to call your Watnall conveyancer. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to advise you what has happened. Where they are not on the panel they may be able to suggest a Watnall conveyancing practice that is on the approved list of lawyers for your bank.
I purchased a freehold property in Watnall but nevertheless charged rent, why is this and what is this?
It is rare for properties in Watnall and has limited impact for conveyancing in Watnall but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges date back many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the creation of fresh rentcharges from 1977 onwards.
Old rentcharges can now be extinguished by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence in 2037 will be extinguished.
The Watnall conveyancing lawyers that I recently instructed on my purchase in Watnall have without warning closed. I only went with them because I had to have a solicitor on the Nationwide conveyancing panel and my previous Watnall lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £195 for searches. What do I do now?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Nationwide conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers may be able to assist.
Hoping to buy a property located in Watnall and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Watnall. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Watnall area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?
Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Watnall. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found
Am I best advised to use a Watnall conveyancing practitioner who is local to the property I am buying? We have a good friend who can conduct the conveyancing however her office is approximately 350miles drive away.
The benefit of a local Watnall conveyancing practice is that you can drop in to execute paperwork, hand in your ID and pester them where appropriate. They will also have local knowledge which is a bonus. However it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who instructed your friend and in the main were happy that must trump using an unknown Watnall conveyancing lawyer just because they are local.
We are in the throes of a leasehold sale of a flat in Watnall. Conveyancing lawyers are doing their job but we are being charged an extortionate amount from the landlord. To date we have issued a cheque for £275 for a leasehold management pack and then a further £117.20 for additional queries raised by the purchaser's property lawyer.
Neither you or your property lawyer will have any say over the level of the charges for this information however the average costs for the information for Watnall leasehold premises is £395. For Watnall conveyancing sales it is usual for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions although many will agree to do so - albeit often at high prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Regretfully there is no law that mandates set fees for administrative tasks. Nor is there any set time limit by which they are duty bound to provide answers.