Find an Approved Solicitor on the Landbay Partners Ltd
Conveyancing Panel
Landbay Partners Solicitor Panel Example Support Desk Enquires
My husband and I are novices when it comes to buying a property. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Landbay Partners have this morning contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's 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 lawyers should contact Landbay Partners and see if they can apply for membership of the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Landbay Partners will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Much to my surprise my conveyancing solicitor is asking me for personal identification documents asserting that this is part of his retainer as a solicitor on the Landbay Partners Solicitor panel. Can you confirm whether this is the case?
Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules require solicitors and licensed conveyancers to verify the identity of the person or body they are dealing with before they can accept their conveyancing business. The Client Care letter that you need to sign will no doubt confirm this. Your lawyer is right that Landbay Partners also require certain documents to be viewed. If a you refuse to provide ID verification documents, your conveyancer would not be able to accept instructions from you. Your lawyer also has obligations to obtain certain documents in accordance with Landbay Partners CML Handbook requirements last updated on Landbay Partners
I note that you have a post code search directory listing law firms on the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a commission if I retain them for my house purchase?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to the any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint.
I am trying to get my ex-husband taken off the mortgage deeds. Can Landbay Partners really tell me which solicitor I can or can not use?
You can use any solicitor you like but Landbay Partners then has the right to appoint a different solicitor to act for them at your expense. It might be more cost effective and quicker to instruct a lawyer who is on the Landbay Partners solicitors panel
Are all Conveyancing Quality Solicitors on the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel?
It is true that some lenders now use CQS as the starting point for Panel membership such as HSBC and Santander. CQS membership 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 remain on their approved list of firms.
Do the majority of lenders operate their own panel of solicitors?
Many lenders do operate a restricted conveyancing panel but a lot of lenders allow any solicitors to join their panel so long as they meet their criteria. Each lender sets their own criteria. For example the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel requirements are different to Landbay Partners’s conveyancing panel requirements.
Intending to buy a house with a mortgage with Landbay Partners. I have received an online quote from a licensed 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 Landbay Partners 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 they are on the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel