I can't travel far from Bishops Stortford. Please explain the reason why all Bishops Stortford conveyancing practitioners are not on all mortgage company panels?
Mortgage Companies normally impose restrictions on either the nature or volume of conveyancing firms on their panel. Frequent examples of such criteria being that the organisation must have two or more partners. As well as restricting the structure of firm, some have decided to limit the size of their panel they permit to represent them. You should note that banks have no accountability for the standard of advice provided by any Bishops Stortford property lawyer on their panel. Property fraud was the primary trigger for the reduction of solicitor panels from 2008 notwithstanding that there are conflicting points of view concerning the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from HM Land Registry indicates that thousands of conveyancing organisations only conduct one or two conveyances a year. Those vindicating conveyancing panel cuts question why law firms should have claim to be on a lender panel when it is evident that conveyancing is not their speciality?
The owners of the home we are hoping to buy have appointed a conveyancing solicitor in Bishops Stortford who has insisted on a preliminary contract with a deposit 10k. Is it wise to enter into such agreements?
Exclusivity agreements are agreements between a home owner and prospective buyer granting the buyer the sole right to the sale of the premises for a limited period of time. For all intents and purposes, a lock out agreement is a contract specifying that you should be issued with a contract at a later date being the main conveyancing contract. It tends to be utilised for buyer protection though in many situations, the seller may enjoy an upside from such agreements as well. There are various positives and negatives to using them but you need to check with your conveyancer but beware that it may end up incurring more in conveyancing fees. For these reasons these agreements are unusual in relation to conveyancing in Bishops Stortford.
I am the sole recipient of my late grandmother’s estate and I have everything in my name now, including the house in Bishops Stortford. The Bishops Stortford property was put into my name in November. I want to move. I understand that there is a Mortgage Lenders six month 'rule', meaning my property ownership could be treated the same way as if I'd bought the property in November. Is the property unsalable for six months?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ handbook instructs solicitors to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." By the strict wording you may be caught by that. many banks would take a sensible view as this obligation primarily exists to identify subsales or the flipping of properties.
The formalities of my purchase has taken place for my property in Bishops Stortford. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I would like to complain about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Almost all banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are sorted out effectively and efficiently. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service with full details of your complaint.
I am selling my house. I had a double glazing fitted in March 2008, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, Kent Reliance are being problematic. The Bishops Stortford solicitor who is on the Kent Reliance conveyancing panel is recommending indemnity insurance as a solution but Kent Reliance are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Kent Reliance have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Kent Reliance have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Kent Reliance may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
A relative recommended that where I am buying in Bishops Stortford I should carry out a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is occasionally included in the estimate for your Bishops Stortford conveyancing searches. It is not a small report of about 40 pages, listing and detailing important information about Bishops Stortford around the property and the people living there. It includes 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 statistics, Local Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful data regarding Bishops Stortford.
How does conveyancing in Bishops Stortford differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Bishops Stortford contact us having been asked by the housebuilder to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the house is completed. This is because builders in Bishops Stortford tend to acquire the site, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancing solicitors as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are used to new build conveyancing in Bishops Stortford or who has acted in the same development.