My husband and I are hoping to acquire a house in Broughton and are in fact using a Broughton conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Barclays Direct have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Broughton solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for the mortgage company. 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 solicitor 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 lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Broughton solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Broughton? What am I being asked for?
You are right in the requirement set out by your solicitor has nothing to do with conveyancing in Broughton. However these days you can not complete any conveyancing deal without first providing proof of your identity. Ordinarily this takes the form of a either your passport or driving licence and a council tax bill. Please note that if you are supplying your driving licence as evidence of ID it needs to be both the paper section as well as the photo card part, one is not sufficient in the absence of the other.
Verification of the source of funds is mandated in accordance with the Money Laundering Regulations. You should not be offended when when this is requested of you as your conveyancer must have this information on record. Your Broughton conveyancing lawyer will need to see evidence of proof of funds prior to accepting any funds from you into their client account and they should also ask further questions concerning the source of monies.
I have a decision in principle. The bank mentioned the mortgage came with free conveyancing. Does this mean I have to appoint their panel solicitor as I would prefer to instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in Broughton?
You should check but the chances are that appoint one of their panel solicitors if you want the "fee-free" offer. Contact the mortgage company to check if they offer you a monetary alternative. It is not unheard for a lender to give a £250 cashback as a further option in which case that money can go towards the cost for your conveyancing solicitor in Broughton.
My wife and I are buying a flat in Broughton. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a lawyer? On completion day we will need to send money into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our deposit?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with HSBC. I assume I don't need a Broughton conveyancer on the HSBC panel to discharge the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your HSBC mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the HSBC mortgage from the register. HSBC, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where HSBC has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- HSBC has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The formalities of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Broughton. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
All lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Care Team at head office. In most cases complaints to a lender are resolved effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
How does conveyancing in Broughton differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Broughton approach us having been asked by the seller to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the residence is constructed. This is because house builders in Broughton typically buy the real estate, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct property lawyers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Broughton or who has acted in the same development.