My partner and I are planning to purchase a home in Pratt's Bottom and are in fact using a Pratt's Bottom conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Santander have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Pratt's Bottom lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is normal for the purchasers' solicitors to also act for 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 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 lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Pratt's Bottom lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I own a freehold residence in Pratt's Bottom yet invoiced for rent, why is this and what is this?
It is rare for properties in Pratt's Bottom and has limited impact for conveyancing in Pratt's Bottom but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.
Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges date back many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the establishment of fresh rentcharges post 1977.
Previous rentcharges can now be extinguished by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence post 2037 is to be extinguished.
The Pratt's Bottom conveyancing firm that just started acting on my house acquisition in Pratt's Bottom have without warning shut down. They were on acting for me because I had to have a lawyer on the HSBC conveyancing panel and my preferred Pratt's Bottom lawyer was not. I issued them a cheque for two hundred pounds in advance. What are my options?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know immediately so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the HSBC conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our property are lost. The lawyers who dealt with the conveyancing in Pratt's Bottom 10 years ago no longer exist. Will I be able to sell the house?
As long as the title is registered the information relating to your proprietorship will be retained by HMLR with a Title Number. It is easy to carry out a search at the Land Registry, locate your property and obtain up to date copies of the Registered Entries for a small fee. Where the property is Leasehold then the Land Registry will also normally retain a certified duplicate of the Registered Lease and again, a copy can be retrieved for twenty pounds.
Should I go with a Pratt's Bottom conveyancing lawyer based in the location that I am hoping to buy? We have a good friend who can handle the legal formalities however his firm is located 400miles drive away.
The benefit of a high street Pratt's Bottom conveyancing practice is that you can pop in to execute paperwork, present your identification documents and apply pressure on them if necessary. They will also have local knowledge which is a bonus. That being said it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If other friends have instructed your friend and on the whole were happy that should outweigh using an unfamiliar Pratt's Bottom conveyancing solicitor solely due to them being local.