My fiance and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in Hartford with Bank of Ireland. We have a son 18 who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is forfeited by the lender. I have two concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this compromise his entitlement to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Bank of Ireland. This is solely used to protect Bank of Ireland if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Bank of Ireland had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
What does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Hartford? Why is this being asked of me?
Hartford conveyancing solicitors and indeed property practitioners throughout the UK have a duty under money laundering regulations to check the ID of any client in order to ensure that clients are who they say they are.
Conveyancing clients will need to disclose two forms of certified identification; proof of identity (typically a Passport or Driving Licence) and proof of address (typically a Utility Bill no older than three months).
Confirmation of the origin of monies is also required in compliance with the money laundering laws as solicitors have a duty to investigate that the funds you are using to acquire a property (be it the exchange deposit or the total purchase monies where you are buying without a mortgage) has originated from a reputable source (such as an inheritance) and is not the proceeds of criminal activity.
We are getting the release of further funds on our home loan from UBS as we wish to carry out improvements to our property in Hartford. Do we need to appoint a bricks and mortar Hartford solicitor on the UBS conveyancing panel to handle the legals?
UBS don't usually appoint firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the UBS conveyancing panel.
My fiancee and I are spending time looking at apartments in Hartford and I am now considering a potential offer. Should I already have a conveyancing practitioner in place at this point? I am planning to take a mortgage with Barclays.
You should start obtaining conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. 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 contact information on to the EA. Given that you are obtaining a mortgage with Barclays, make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Barclays conveyancing panel.
Completion of my remortgage has taken place for my property in Hartford. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I would like to complain about the lender. How does one go about formally complaining?
Almost all lenders have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. We understand that complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. If you feel the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
I've recently bought a leasehold property in Hartford. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?
In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.
If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).
I invested in buying a studio flat in Hartford, conveyancing was carried out August 1998. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Hartford with over 90 years remaining are worth £216,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2094
With 70 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as costs.
The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.
What tools are available to find a Hartford conveyancing solicitor on the bank conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 20kilometers to attend the conveyancer.
Feel free to make use of the find a conveyancing panel search on this website. Please choose the lender and your location, in this case Hartford and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest Hartford. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the bank solicitor panel.