My fiance and I are looking to buy a home in Hawarden and are in fact using a Hawarden conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Aldermore have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our Hawarden conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' solicitors to also represent the mortgage company. 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 Quality 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 solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred Hawarden lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Our solicitor has identified a a legal deficiency with the lease for the apartment we are buying in Hawarden. The other side have put forward defective title insurance as a solution. We are happy with insurance and will pay for it. Our property lawyer says that he must ensure that the mortgage company is willing to move forward with this solution. Who is the client here, us or the bank?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the risk of a conflict of interest, you and the bank are the client. Your solicitor must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements. The UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects with the lease so that the lender can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your conveyancing practitioner will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
At what point can the exchange of contracts take place for domestic conveyancing in Hawarden and do I need to attend the solicitors office?
Where you are near to our conveyancing solicitors in Hawarden you are welcome to come in to sign the paperwork. However, the law practices we work with offer countrywide coverage for conveyancing and provide as equally comprehensive and professional a job for you when communicating with you electronically. The signing of the sale agreement is not the point of no return. A signed contract is just a prerequisite for the solicitor to exchange contracts when the time is right, which will usually be very shortly after signing. The exchange process is nowadays normally dealt with by telephone and can be very rapid, although where an extended "chain" is in play, since the process requires the relevant party's solicitor (not necessarily a conveyancing solicitor in Hawarden)to be in the office available at the end of the phone to exchange contracts.
We are purchasing a house in Hawarden. I might seem paranoid but how we can trust a solicitor? At some point we will need to send money into their account. What is the protection we have from them run away with our money?
Be assured that all money in a Solicitors client account is 100% safe, and even if your Solicitor ran off with it, the Law Society would reimburse you fully.
My bid for a property was accepted at auction in Hawarden. Conveyancing is required. What is next?
Given that you have now to all intents and purposes signed on the dotted line you should find a conveyancing lawyer as a matter of urgency as you are faced with a tight a drop dead date to complete the property. All auction property will have a bespoke auction set of papers. This should include most,if not all of the documents that your lawyer requires. In the case of leasehold property the auction papers may include a copy of the lease, management information and a sellers leasehold information form and other conveyancing paperwork specific to leasehold premises. You need to pass this on to the lawyer instructed by you at the earliest opportunity. Do make sure that your finances are in place to complete the transaction on the set completion date.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Hawarden. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers. I paid an advanced payment of £150. Soon after, the conveyancing practitioner called me embarrassingly acknowledging that they were not on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Leeds Building Society panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold element on a property I have offered on last month in what should have been a straight forward, chain free conveyancing. Hawarden is the location of the property. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Hawarden are unusual but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even though you don't necessarily need a conveyancing solicitor in Hawarden you must be sure that your lawyer goes through the deeds diligently. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Hawarden may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold premises.