Find an Approved Solicitor on the Leek Building Society
Conveyancing Panel
Leek BS Solicitor Panel Example Support Desk Enquires
My partner and I are FTBs. Within the 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to sign with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Leek BS have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance 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 Leek BS and see if they can apply for membership of the Leek BS conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Leek BS will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Leek BS conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We are due to exchange on the purchase a house but as a result of damage from the recent storms I have agreed compensation from the seller of £3k approx by way of a reduction in the price. This was going to be dealt with as part of the conveyancing process but my mortgage company Leek BS will not agree to this. Why was Leek BS even consulted?
Your lawyer being on the Leek BS conveyancing panel is duty bound to inform Leek BS of any changes to the purchase price. If you were to refuse your lawyers to disclose the reduction to Leek BS then they would have to discontinue acting for you and Leek BS.
I need to find a Leek BS panel solicitor in Belfast. Can you assist?
Unfortunately it’s not apparent why you need a Leek BS panel solicitor but in any event, if you can not find one on our search tool you will need to speak directly to Leek BS to find out which solicitors in Leek BS are on their panel. If you do find such a firm not listed please direct them to our site to list. At a fee of one pound per month it is not expensive to register on the site
My solicitors in London have advised me that they can not locate my conveyancing file. To assist with my purchase I took out a mortgage with Leek BS. Is it case that being on the Leek BS conveyancing panel they need to have retained the file for a number of years?
Different lenders have different requirements 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 Leek BS Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting Leek BS directly.
Do conveyancing solicitors on the Leek BS conveyancing panel work on a no sale no fee basis?
On the whole there are no requirements by lenders for their firms to operate on a no-sale-no-fee basis. There a small number of lenders who operate a very restricted conveyancing panel managed by a third party company (often termed in the industry as a ‘gatekeeper’). That third party may impose certain conditions such as non-sale-no fee on the panel firms. If you require this as a condition of your conveyancing then you should check with the conveyancing firm that this is part of their service
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 Leek BS conveyancing panel requirements are different to Leek BS’s conveyancing panel requirements.
For 5 years I had a mortgage with Leek BS. My godfather has just retired and wants to pay off the mortgage left on the property. After Leek BS is paid, I want to transfer the property to my mother's name; How long will it roughly take? Do we need two separate solicitors on the Leek BS conveyancing panel? I do not intend to live at the property once the Leek BS mortgage is discharged.
You
will need a solicitor but they need not be on the Leek BS conveyancing panel.
You will need a solicitor to draw up the transfer and
to deal with the Land Registry formalities. The only thing you need to
consider is that by selling at an undervalue so ask your lawyer about
the implications. There could be an inheritance tax issue if you die
within 7 years of this. There's no capital gains tax for you as it is
your main residence.