My fiance and I are looking to acquire a flat in Emersons Green and are in fact using a Emersons Green conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Barclays have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Emersons Green conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Emersons Green lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My fiance and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in Emersons Green with RBS. We have a son 19 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the RBS conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his entitlement to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong 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 RBS. This is solely used to protect RBS 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 RBS 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.
Should our conveyancer be raising questions regarding flooding as part of the conveyancing in Emersons Green.
Flooding is a growing risk for conveyancers specialising in conveyancing in Emersons Green. There are those who buy a house in Emersons Green, completely aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, aside from the physical destruction, if a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, satisfactory insurance cover, or sell the premises. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.
Lawyers are not qualified to impart advice on flood risk, but there are a numerous checks that can be initiated by the purchaser or by their conveyancers which can figure out the risks in Emersons Green. The standard completed inquiry forms sent to a buyer’s conveyancer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a usual inquiry of the vendor to find out if the premises has historically flooded. In the event that flooding has previously occurred and is not disclosed by the vendor, then a buyer may commence a claim for damages resulting from an inaccurate response. The purchaser’s solicitors should also carry out an environmental search. This should disclose if there is any known flood risk. If so, additional investigations should be carried out.
I decided to have a survey carried out on a house in Emersons Green in advance of instructing lawyers. I have been advised that there is a flying freehold element to the property. My surveyor has said that some lenders may refuse to issue a mortgage on this type of property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different requirements for example to Birmingham Midshires. If you contact us we can investigate further via the appropriate lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Emersons Green. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Emersons Green to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
I have been recommended a conveyancing solicitor in Emersons Green. I I would like to check if they are listed on the lender's approved list of lawyers. Could you advise?
You should phone the solicitor to check if they are on the lender's panel. Alternatively please call us and we can investigate and revert. If they are not on the conveyancing panel we we can help find a specialist conveyancing solicitor in Emersons Green on the panel for your mortgage company.