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Fleet Mortgages Conveyancing Panel : Questions and Answers
My fiance and I are first time buyers. Within the 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Fleet Mortgages have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender.
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 solicitors should contact Fleet Mortgages and see if they can apply for membership of the Fleet Mortgages conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Fleet Mortgages will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Fleet Mortgages conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Much to my surprise my lawyer is asking me for identification documents stating that this is part of his retainer as a solicitor on the Fleet Mortgages Conveyancing panel. Is this right?
Due to Money Laundering Regulations your conveyancing lawyer is duty bound to confirm positively your identification when entering into a business relationship with you. It is a criminal offense if your lawyer not do this. If you do not provide ID early in the transaction the solicitor must refuse to act for you. It’s unlikely a lawyer will turn you away if you come to the first meeting without relevant ID but you will have to produce it at some point so you might as well bring it with you to the initial meeting so the lawyer can tick the ID verification box and start sorting out the conveyancing straight away. If you are getting a mortgage with Fleet Mortgages your lawyer also has to check ID documents to satisfy Fleet Mortgages
Do all the firms listed on your search have online case tracking as I understood that this was a condition of being on the Fleet Mortgages solicitor panel?
No. There is no CML Part 2 or Building Society Association requirement relating to online case tracking. Some law firms operate such technology and some don't.
We're in London, First time buyers purchasing with a mortgage (lender is Fleet Mortgages , but our solicitor is on the Fleet Mortgages conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Fleet Mortgages conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancer should guarantee a time-frame for your conveyancing due to third parties outside of our control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain
My husband and I are spending time looking at houses and now considering a potential offer. Is it best to have a conveyancer on ‘stand by’? I I am planning to take a mortgage with Fleet Mortgages
It would be sensible to have your start your search soon rather than later. After you have chosen your lawyer and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on the the estate agent. As you are getting a mortgage with Fleet Mortgages , ask your prospective lawyers check they are on the Fleet Mortgages conveyancing panel otherwise they can't do the mortgage legal work.
The mortgage over my property is with Fleet Mortgages. Conveyancing was finalised a year ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Fleet Mortgages?
You must advise Fleet Mortgages prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Fleet Mortgages’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Fleet Mortgages 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 Fleet Mortgages directly. You need not do this via a Fleet Mortgages conveyancing panel solicitor.
My brother and I are remortgaging a terraced house in Hendon. Conveyancing solicitors in Hendon are preferred to beretained. My motherrecommended that we enquire that the solicitor in Hendon is on the Fleet Mortgages list of approved conveyancing firms. Surely I don't need to do this, do I?
It is not that case that all Hendon conveyancing practices are on the Fleet Mortgages conveyancing panel. Use the above search tool to search for a Hendon conveyancing solicitor on the on the Fleet Mortgages list of approved conveyancing firms.
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