I am progressing with the sale of my maisonette in Clent and the EA has just telephoned to warn that the purchasers are switching solicitor. The excuse is that the mortgage company will only engage with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a leading lender only engage with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to appoint to handle their conveyancing in Clent ?
UK lenders have always had an approved set of law firms that can represent them, but in recent years big names such as Nationwide, have considered and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have represented them for decades.
Banks point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the pruning – criteria have been stiffened as a smaller panel is easier to oversee. Banks tend not to reveal how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society claims that it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.
What happens if my solicitor is suspended from the UBS Solicitor panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Clent?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
Is there a list of Virgin Money panel solicitors in Clent on the Building Society Association’s Website?
No. There is no such directory service on the CML or Building Society Association websites. Very few lenders make their panel listings visible on the web. If you are looking for a Clent lawyer on the Virgin Money please make the most of our facility.
I have a mortgage with Co-operative for my property in Clent. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. Should I wish to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Co-operative?
You must advise Co-operative in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Co-operative’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Co-operative 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 Co-operative directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Co-operative conveyancing panel solicitor.
My offer on a house in Clent has been agreed to, but there is a chain. The vendors have offered on a flat, however it’s not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other apartments in the pipeline. I have selected a high street conveyancing solicitor in Clent. What do I do now? When do I get the mortgage application with Clydesdale going?
It is understandable to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to incur expenses too early (home loan application is approx £1k, then survey, Clent conveyancing search fees, etc). The first course of action is to check that your property lawyer is on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel. Regarding the next steps this very much dictated by the circumstances of your case, attraction to this property and on the state of the market. During a rising market many purchasers will apply for the mortgage with Clydesdale and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their conveyancing practitioner to proceed with the conveyancing in Clent.
As co-executor for the will of my aunt I am selling a property in Neath but reside in Clent. My conveyancer (who is 250 kilometers from mehas requested that I execute a statutory declaration before completion. Could you suggest a conveyancing solicitor in Clent to attest this legal document for me?
strictly speaking you should not be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily any notary public or qualified solicitor will do regardless of whether they are Clent based
My partner and I are acquiring a studio flat in Clent. At the time of instructing our solicitor, they assured us that they were on all mainstream bank panels. The mortgage broker contacted us just now to say that they are not on the Yorkshire BS approved list. Should that be true, what should we do? Should we simply find a different property lawyer that is on their panel or do we cover the costs for dual representation, with Yorkshire BS appointing their own preferred lawyer.
When acquiring a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the buyer’s lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. In order to act for a bank or building society a solicitor has to be on that lender's list of approved lawyers. An application has to be made by the conveyancing practitioner to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict conditions which the lawyer has to satisfy. Some lenders now insist their panel firms to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your solicitor should call Yorkshire BS to discover 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on Yorkshire BS's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Clent lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.