My partner and I are hoping to acquire a home in Archway and are in fact using a Archway conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Virgin Money have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Archway solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 solicitor should contact your bank and see 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 the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Archway lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My husband and I are refinancing our penthouse in Archway with Barclays. We have a son 18 who lives at home. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Barclays conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Barclays conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing 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 Barclays. This is solely used to protect Barclays 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 Barclays 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.
Finally the sale completed on my house in Archway last April yet the purchaser is whats apping every few hours to moan that his lawyer needs to hear from mysolicitor. What are the post completion sale formalities now that I have sold?
After completion of your house sale your lawyer is obliged to send the transfer documentation and all of the paperwork to the buyer’s lawyers. If applicable, your lawyer must also send confirmation that the mortgage has been discharged to the buyers solicitors. There is unlikely to be post completion formalities peculiar conveyancing in Archway.
Do I need to pop into the offices of the solicitor to execute the mortgage deed? If so, I will instruct a firm who offer conveyancing in Archway so that I can attend their offices if required.
Most conveyancing panel lawyers for banks undertake all of the work through Royal Mail, internet or over phone calls. This enables them to undertake the conveyancing transaction no matter where you live in England or Wales. Nevertheless you should see if you can still book an appointment to visit conveyancing lawyer if needed.
I have been told that property searches are a common reason for stalling in Archway conveyancing transactions. Is there any truth in this?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) released findings of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not figure amongst the common causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are unlikely to feature in any holding up conveyancing in Archway.