My wife and I are looking to buy a property in Isle of Dogs and are in fact using a Isle of Dogs conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Alliance & Leicester have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Isle of Dogs conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
Where you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is normal 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer 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 and you may continue to use your own Isle of Dogs solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Finally the sale completed on my house in Isle of Dogs last February but my buyer keeps telephoning me to say their lawyer needs to hear from myconveyancer. What should my lawyer have done now that I have sold?
Following your disposal your lawyer is obliged to send the transfer documentation and all supplemental paperwork to the buyer’s conveyancer. Where appropriate, your conveyancer must also evidence that the home loan has been discharged to the buyers conveyancers. There are no post completion formalities specific conveyancing in Isle of Dogs.
We are purchasing a 4 bedroom semi-detached house in Isle of Dogs. The intention is to convert the garage to an office at the property.Will legal investigations on the property involve enquiries to see if these works are allowed?
Your property lawyer will check the deeds as conveyancing in Isle of Dogs will occasionally identify restrictions in the title documents which restrict certain changes or need the consent of another owner. Some extensions call for local authority planning permissions and approval under the building regulations. Certain areas are designated conservation areas and special planning restrictions apply which frequently prevent or affect extensions. It would be wise to check these things with a surveyor ahead of any purchase.
When it comes to lenders such as Virgin Money, do Isle of Dogs property lawyers have to pay a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are unaware of any mortgage company fees to register on their panel, although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Isle of Dogs. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Most banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Team 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 who will take matters further.
I am looking into buying my first house which is in Isle of Dogs and I am already nervous. I couldn't find anything specific about Isle of Dogs. Conveyancing will be needed in due course but do you know about the Isle of Dogs area? or perhaps some other tips you can share?
Rather than looking online forget looking online you should go and have a look at Isle of Dogs. In the meantime here are some basic statistics that we found
My husband and I are acquiring a studio flat in Isle of Dogs. When we first instructed lawyer, they said that they were on all mainstream bank panels. The mortgage broker called today to advise that they are not on the Coventry BS approved list. Were it to be true, what should we do? Do we simply find a new solicitor that is on their approved list or do we pay for dual representation, with Coventry BS appointing their own approved solicitor.
When buying a property with mortgage finance it is standard for the purchaser’s lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a solicitor has to be on that lender's list of approved lawyers. An application has to be made by the conveyancer to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the lawyer has to meet. Some banks now require their panel firms to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyer should call Coventry BS 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 Coventry BS's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Isle of Dogs lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.