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Conveyancing Panel
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My fiance and I are FTBs. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to sign with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Aldermore Bank have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our conveyancer 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 solicitors should contact Aldermore Bank and see if they can apply for membership of the Aldermore Bank conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Aldermore Bank will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Aldermore Bank 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.
My wife and I changing mortgage lender for our penthouse with Aldermore Bank. We have a son 19 who lives with us. The solicitor on the Aldermore Bank conveyancing panel requested us to identify 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 property is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this form unique to the Aldermore Bank conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his rights 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 Aldermore Bank .This is solely used to protect the Aldermore Bank 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 Aldermore Bank 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.
Do all the licensed conveyancers and solicitor practices listed on your directory have online case tracking as I was under the impression that this was a precondition of being on the Aldermore Bank conveyancing panel?
No. There is no CML Part 2 or Building Society Association requirement relating to online case tracking. Some law firms operate such technology and some don't.
I am trying to get my ex-wife removed the mortgage deeds. Can Aldermore Bank really tell me which solicitor I can or can not retain?
You can use any solicitor you like but Aldermore Bank 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 Aldermore Bank solicitors panel
The mortgage over my property is with Aldermore Bank. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. In the event that I decide to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Aldermore Bank?
Your original mortgage agreement with Aldermore Bank will provide that you need their approval in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Aldermore Bank’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Aldermore Bank will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Aldermore Bank directly. You need not do this via a Aldermore Bank conveyancing panel firm.
On the whole I have been dissatisfied with the level or service received from my lawyer. Is there a Aldermore Bank conveyancing panel complaints department or do I complain directly to the law firm?
There is little point in complaining directly to Aldermore Bank. All solicitors and conveyancer must have a complaints procedure. Usually one can find this information from the solicitor’s or conveyancer’s website or ask at their office. They must tell you about it if you ask.
The Legal Ombudsman will make sure that your complaint is addressed by the solicitor. It can also advise you how to complain.
If a licensed conveyancer does not have a complaints procedure or will not tell you about it, contact the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), which will make sure that your complaint is properly dealt with by the conveyancer. Please see below for more information.
My ex -wife’s name is on the Aldermore Bank mortgage of my property but not on the land registry. The apartment was transferred to me on our divorce many years ago by way of a sealed court order. Does my ex still have a say on the sale even though the land registry showing the property in my name alone? Will I be required to take her name of the Aldermore Bank mortgage in order to sell?
In terms of the Aldermore Bank mortgage, it is unusual that your ex-wife’s name remains on the mortgage but not on the title. It is conceivable that this is an oversight on the part of your conveyancers to ensure that her name was removed or even an administrative error on the part of Aldermore Bank in failing to update their data. In any event, it should cause difficulty providing her name no longer appears on the Land Registry title and you have a court order ordering that the property is transferred to you.