My fiance and I are hoping to purchase a house in Frome and are in fact using a Frome conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Halifax have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Frome solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent 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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender 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 don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Frome solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Completed the sale of my flat in Frome last October yet the purchaser is SMS messaging daily complaining that their solicitor is waiting to hear from myconveyancer. What are the post completion sale legalities following completion?
After completion of your sale your conveyancer should deliver the transfer documentation and all additional paperwork to the buyer’s solicitors. Where appropriate, your lawyer should also send confirmation that the mortgage has been repaid to the purchasers conveyancers. There are no post completion procedures peculiar conveyancing in Frome.
Is it the case that all Frome CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors are on the Santander conveyancing list of approved firms?
A selection of lenders now make use of the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. CQS accreditation however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to join their panels.
I am buying a property in Frome. One unusual aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Kent Reliance be concerned?
Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with Kent Reliance your lawyer must follow the formal requirements outlined in Part 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Kent Reliance. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook sets out minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and property lawyers are required to report to Kent Reliance where a lease does not comply with these requirements. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties countrywide and is not isolated to Frome.
I'm in the throws of looking at apartments in Frome and I am about to put in an offer. Is it too early to have a solicitor in place? I intend to finance via a mortgage with Santander.
It would be sensible to commence your search sooner rather than later. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on to the estate agent. As you are getting a mortgage with Santander, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Santander conveyancing panel.
five months have elapsed following my purchase conveyancing in Frome took place. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £150,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
My solicitors in Frome have advised me that no longer have my conveyancing file. To assist with my purchase I took out a mortgage with the mortgage company. Is it case that being on the mortgage company conveyancing panel they need to have retained the file for a prescribed period?
It very much depends from lender to lender but many of the Terms and Conditions of Conveyancing Panel Appointment require the file to be held for a period of 6 years. That being said we have not seen a copy of the bank Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting the mortgage company directly.