Me and my partner are purchasing a 1 bedroom apartment in Wymondham with a mortgage. We have a Wymondham lawyer, however the mortgage company advise he's not on their "panel". It appears that we have no choice but to appoint one of the mortgage company panel conveyancing practices or keep our Wymondham conveyancing practitioner and pay for one of their panel lawyers to act for them. We regard this is inequitable; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. Your mortgage offer is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Wymondham conveyancing lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
In the event thatI was to acquire a straightforward propertyin Wymondham mortgage fee and dispense with a survey and no local authority searches how much could I expect to have to pay for conveyancing in Wymondham?
The only saving you would achieve is the Wymondham conveyancing searches. A solicitor still got to do everything else - money laundering, communicating with the vendors property lawyer, stamp duty submission, register the property etc. A slight saving might be made by not having to register a mortgage but it will not be a lot.
My lawyer has informed me that lack of right of way insurance is necessary on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Wymondham?
The right level of lack of right of way indemnity insurance should be dictated by who your lender. It would differ for example between Santander and The Mortgage Works. Conveyancing lawyers as opposed to members of the public take out such policies.
When it comes to lenders such as Nationwide, do Wymondham property lawyers have to pay a yearly amount to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any mortgage company fees to be on their list of approved firms, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
The formalities of my purchase has taken place for my property in Wymondham. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I would like to complain about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Most banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service with full details of your complaint.
I opted to have a survey carried out on a house in Wymondham ahead of retaining lawyers. I have been told that there is a flying freehold aspect to the house. Our surveyor has said that some banks tend not give a mortgage on a flying freehold home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. HSBC has different requirements from Halifax. Should you wish to telephone us we can check via the appropriate mortgage company. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can help as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Wymondham. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Wymondham especially if they are familiar with such properties in Wymondham.
My father-in-law has suggested that I appoint his lawyers for conveyancing in Wymondham. Should I choose my own property lawyer?
There are no two ways about it the ideal way to find a conveyancing solicitor is to get guidance from friends or family who have previously instructed the solicitor you're considering.
My son is just in the process of moving house, the home loan was agreed last week in principle. When the offer was accepted on house we contacted the bank to move forward with his. I was very surprised to learn that mortgage companies do not accept all solicitor, they must be on their panel, is this correct?
Banks tend to imposes restrictions either the type or the number of conveyancing firms on their panel. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that banks have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any Wymondham property lawyer on their panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, conveyancing is not their speciality. To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime? Presumably not.