My husband and I are planning to buy a property in Eltham and have instructed a Eltham 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. Skipton Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Eltham lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also act for 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 property lawyer should contact your mortgage company 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 bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Eltham lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Does a directory service exist listing Leeds Building Society panel solicitors in Eltham on the Council of Mortgage Lender’s Website?
No. There is no such directory service on the CML or Building Society Association sites. A small selection of lending institutions make their panel listings visible on the web. Where you are looking for a Eltham lawyer on the Leeds Building Society please use our facility.
I have today made my last payment due on my mortgage with Leeds Building Society. I assume I don't need a Eltham lawyer on the Leeds Building Society panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm.
If you have finished paying off your Leeds Building Society mortgage, they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Leeds Building Society mortgage from the register. Leeds Building Society, and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
- but are not moving to another property
- where Leeds Building Society has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
- Leeds Building Society has instructed the Land Registry to do so
About to purchase maisonette in Eltham. I have received an online quote from a licenced conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that the Eltham solicitor is on the Yorkshire BS conveyancing panel.
Yesterday I discovered that there is a flying freehold element on a house I have offered on two weeks back in what was supposed to be a quick, no chain conveyancing. Eltham is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Eltham are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Eltham you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds diligently. Your bank may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Eltham may determine that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
I was pointed in your direction by a few estate agents in Eltham to find a property lawyer on your site. What’s the financial upside for Estate Agents to market your site over and above another?
We refuse to offer any commission for pointing buyers and sellers our way. We thought it would be too underhand to pay a commission because home movers will think, ‘Why is the agent getting a kickback? Why aren’t I receiving any benefit too?’ So we decided to step away from that.
We are 3 weeks into a residential purchase having been recommend to conveyancers by the high street agent to execute conveyancing in Eltham. I am am starting to be dissatisfied with the level of service. Could you help me find new solicitors?
A conveyancer would have to be very bad in order to consider diss instructing them. Has the mortgage been sent? If so you will need to make them aware of the new contact details and ensure the offer are re-sent. Your new conveyancer needs to be on the lenders approved list to avoid escalating fees and frustration. That should be your first question of the new conveyancers. Our search tool will help you find a lender approved lawyer for your conveyancing in Eltham