I can't travel far from Ruskington. What is the rationale as to why all Ruskington lawyers are not on all mortgage company panels?
Mortgage Companies tend to impose restrictions on either the nature or the number of conveyancing firms on their panel. Frequent examples of such criteria being that the organisation needs to have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the nature of firm, some building societies made a decision to reduce the size of their panel they use to act for them. You should note that banks have no liability for the standard of advice given by any Ruskington lawyer on their approved list. Mortgage fraud was the main trigger for the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago notwithstanding that there are conflicting assessments about whether solicitors sat at the center of that fraud. Data published by HM Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only conduct less than three conveyances a year. Those advocating conveyancing panel consolidation ask why conveyancing firms deserve the right to be on a lender panel when clearly conveyancing is not their primary expertise?
We have very assertive vendors who has suggested a exclusivity agreement with a deposit of 5k. Is it wise to enter into such agreements?
This type of contract is not the norm in Ruskington, conveyancers will often sway clients away from them as they detract from focusing on the main conveyancing focus and if you end up having your deposit forfeited then the solicitor is left exposed. Secondly, there is no assurance that just because the seller has signed a lock out agreement they will sell to you. They may be motivated to break the agreement if they receive sufficient incentive to do so because an aggrieved party with the benefit of a lockoutcontract will still be legally obliged to establish consequential losses from the breach and these may not compare to the financial upside that your seller may obtain by breaking the contract, no matter how morally reprehensible the behaviour is.
It is 10 years ago since I acquired my home in Ruskington. Conveyancing solicitors have now been appointed on the sale but I am unable to track down the deeds. Is this a major issue?
You need not be too concerned. First the deeds may be kept by your mortgage company or they may be in the possession of the conveyancers who acted in your purchase. Secondly in all probability the property will be recorded at the land registry and you will be able to prove you own the property by your conveyancing lawyers obtaining up to date copy of the land registers. Most conveyancing in Ruskington involves registered property but in the unlikely event that your property is not registered it is more problematic but is resolvable.
We wanted to use a property lawyer in Ruskington for our house purchase. Our broker has since notified us that our mortgage lenders Bank of Scotland won't deal with them. Why is this not regarded as unfair competition?
Lenders in the main imposes restrictions either the type or the volume of conveyancing solicitors on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such criteria being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the profile of firm, a few banks have reduced the amount of firms they permit to represent them. You should note that Bank of Scotland have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Bank of Scotland Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of solicitor panels since 2008 even though there remains differing opinions concerning the level of solicitor engagement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry indicate that plenty of law firms, including some in or near Ruskington only perform a couple conveyances per annum.
A relative recommended that where I am buying in Ruskington I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. What does it cover?
A search of this type is usually included in the estimate for your Ruskington conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing significant information about Ruskington around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the local Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the type of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average House Prices, Crime details, Local Education with maps and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Ruskington.