My wife and I are refinancing our flat in Cumberland with Leeds Building Society. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong 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 Leeds Building Society. This is solely used to protect Leeds Building Society 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 Leeds Building Society 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.
I have been advised by my solicitor that absentee landlord insurance is required on my purchase. What is the typical level of cover needed for conveyancing in Cumberland?
The appropriate level of absentee landlord indemnity insurance should be dictated by who who your lender is. It would differ for example between Santander and The Mortgage Works. Conveyancing solicitors as opposed to borrowers take out such insurances.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Aldermore, do Cumberland conveyancers have to pay an annual charge to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are not aware of any mortgage company fees to register on their list of approved firms, although some do levy an administration fee to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Cumberland. My mortgage broker suggested a property lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £175. A couple of days later, the conveyancing practitioner contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Leeds Building Society panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I used Wolstenholmes a few years ago for my conveyancing in Cumberland. Now, I need my files but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
Do contact the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Cumberland of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
How does conveyancing in Cumberland differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build or newly converted property in Cumberland come to us having been asked by the seller to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is ready to move into. This is because new home sellers in Cumberland usually purchase the real estate, 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 accustomed to new build conveyancing in Cumberland or who has acted in the same development.
Taking into account that I am about to part with hundreds of thousands of pounds on a two bedroom apartment in Cumberland I wish to talk to a solicitor regarding theconveyancing ahead of giving the go ahead to the firm. Can this be arranged?
We could not agree more - it is our preference to talk to you we do not take any clients on without you first talking to the lawyer due to be conducting your conveyancing in Cumberland.There is no ‘factory style conveyancing’ - each client is unique individual, not a case reference. The solicitors that we put you in touch with believe that the figure you are provided with for residential conveyancing in Cumberland should be the amount on the final invoice that you end up paying.