My wife and I intend to remortgage our penthouse in Falmouth with HSBC. We have a son 19 who lives with us. Our solicitor has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. 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 HSBC conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his rights to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your HSBC conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing 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 HSBC. This is solely used to protect HSBC 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 HSBC 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.
Can you clarify what the consequences are if my solicitor is removed from the Virgin Money Conveyancing panel ahead of completing my conveyancing in Falmouth?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have to instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by a regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
I require expedited conveyancing in Falmouth as I am faced with an ultimatum to exchange contracts inside one month. Fortunately I do not need a mortgage. Can I avoid the conveyancing searches to save fees and time?
As you are are a mortgage free buyer you are at liberty not to have searches conducted although no lawyer would suggest that you don't. Drawing on our experience of conveyancing in Falmouth the following are instances of issues that can crop up and adversely impact the marketability of the property: Enforcement Notices, Outstanding Charges, Outstanding Grants, Road Schemes,...
How does conveyancing in Falmouth differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Falmouth contact us having been asked by the developer to sign contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is finished. This is because house builders in Falmouth typically acquire the land, plan the estate and want to get the plots sold off as they are building the properties. Buyers, therefore, will have to exchange contracts without actually seeing the house they are buying. To reduce the chances of losing the property, buyers should instruct conveyancers as soon as the property is reserved and mortgage applications should be submitted quickly. Due to the fact that it could be several months and even years between exchange of contracts and completion, the mortgage offer may need to be extended. It would be wise to use a lawyer who specialises in new build conveyancing especially if they are accustomed to new build conveyancing in Falmouth or who has acted in the same development.
I am 17 days into a leasehold purchase having been directed to a firm by the high street agent to do our conveyancing in Falmouth. I am not happy. Can you help me find new lawyers?
A conveyancer would need to be very poor in order to consider changing them. Has your loan offer been generated? If so you need to advise them of the new conveyancer and ensure the loan are re-sent. Your new solicitor ideally needs to be on the banks approved list to avoid supplemental costs and frustration. That should be your first question of the new conveyancers. Our search tool can help you find a lender approved solicitor for your conveyancing in Falmouth