My partner and I are looking to purchase a home in Halewood and are in fact using a Halewood conveyancing practice. Within the past 48 hours our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Yorkshire Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Halewood conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers 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 solicitor should contact your lender and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the bank's conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Halewood lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
My wife and I are purchasing a brand new flat in Halewood and my conveyancer is informing me that she is duty bound to the mortgage company to reveal incentives from the builder. The Estate Agents are hassling me to exchange and my preference is not to delay the conveyancing. is my lawyer playing by the book?
You should not exchange unless you have been advised to do so by your conveyancer. A precondition to being on a bank panel is to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook specifications. The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
In what way does my ID and proof of funds have anything to do with my conveyancing in Halewood? What am I being asked for?
Halewood conveyancing solicitors and indeed property practitioners throughout the UK have an obligation under money laundering regulations to check the identity of any client in order to satisfy themselves that clients are who they say they are.
Conveyancing clients are required to provide two forms of certified ID; proof of identity (usually a Passport or Driving Licence) and evidence of address (typically a Utility Bill no more than three months).
Confirmation of the origin of monies is also required in compliance with the money laundering statutes as conveyancers are duty bound to investigate that the funds you are using to purchase a property (whether it be the deposit for exchange or the total purchase monies if you are a cash purchaser) has originated from an acceptable source (such as employment savings) as opposed to the fruits of criminal activity.
I have recentlybecome aware that Arc property Solicitors have been shut down. They carried out my conveyancing in Halewood for a purchase of a leasehold flat 10 months ago. How can I establish that the property is not still registered in the name of the former proprietor?
The quickest method to see if the premises is in your name, you can carry out a search of the land registry (£3.00). You can either do this yourself or ask a law firm to do this for you. If you are not registered you can seek help from one of a number of Halewood conveyancing specialists.
How does conveyancing in Halewood differ for new build properties?
Most buyers of new build premises in Halewood contact us having been asked by the housebuilder to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the premises is completed. This is because developers in Halewood typically buy the real estate, 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 Halewood or who has acted in the same development.