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Ready to buy a new home? Failing to check that a lawyer is on the SuffolkBuildingSociety list of approved solicitors can put your transaction at risk of delay or failure.
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Suffolk Building Society Conveyancing Panel : Questions and Answers
My fiance and I are FTBs. Within the 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to sign with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Suffolk Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
If you are buying a property with the assistance 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 Suffolk Building Society and see if they can apply for membership of the Suffolk Building Society conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Suffolk Building Society will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the Suffolk Building Society conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We are only a couple days away from an exchange and my parents having sent the 10% deposit to my lawyer. I am now advised that as the deposit has not come from me my lawyer needs to make a notification to my lender Suffolk Building Society. I am advised that, being on the Suffolk Building Society conveyancing panel and acting on their behalf he must inform Suffolk Building Society if the balance of the mortgage advance is not just from me. I advised the bank about my parent’s contribution when I applied for the home loan so is it really necessary for this now to be an issue?
Your lawyer is obliged to check with Suffolk Building Society to make sure that they are aware that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. Your solicitor can only report this to Suffolk Building Society if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
Do banks and building societies provide you with an approved list of solicitors? How do you know who is on the Suffolk Building Society conveyancing panel?
The law firm practices themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Suffolk Building Society conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Suffolk Building Society directly.
I was expecting to move into my flat yesterday. My lawyer’s firm is on the Suffolk Building Society conveyancing panel but has moved offices in the past couple of months and had not informed Suffolk Building Society of their new address. Suffolk Building Society has locked down the release of mortgage funds until such time as their systems are up to date with the correct details.
This is a rare situation indeed. Most lender Terms of Conveyancing Panel Appointment specifically oblige the solicitor to inform the lender of an address change. Your solicitor needs to treat this with the utmost urgency. Do speak with or register your concern with the senior partner (assuming he or she is not your direct lawyer). Most lenders would be reasonable in this situation and expedite the resolution of this issue. It may be prudent to enlist the help of your local Suffolk Building Society branch or your mortgage broker to see if they can help.
Is it the case that all conveyancing lawyers on the Suffolk Building Society conveyancing panel work on a no sale no fee basis?
In the main there are no requirements by lenders for their firms to operate on a no-sale-no-fee basis. There a small number of lenders who operate a very restricted conveyancing panel managed by a third party company (often termed in the industry as a ‘gatekeeper’). That third party may impose certain conditions such as non-sale-no fee on the panel firms. If you require this as a condition of your conveyancing then you should check with the conveyancing firm that this is part of their service
Do most banks operate their own panel of solicitors?
Many lenders do operate a restricted conveyancing panel but a lot of lenders allow any solicitors to join their panel so long as they meet their criteria. Each lender sets their own criteria. For example the Suffolk Building Society conveyancing panel requirements are different to Suffolk Building Society’s conveyancing panel requirements.
I have a mortgage with Suffolk Building Society. Conveyancing was finalised some time ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform Suffolk Building Society?
Your original mortgage agreement with Suffolk Building Society will provide that you need their approval in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Suffolk Building Society’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Suffolk Building Society will allow you to rent 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 Suffolk Building Society directly. You need not do this via a Suffolk Building Society conveyancing panel firm.