Is the fact that my conveyancer in Newtown is not identified on my lender's solicitor panel that there is a problem with the standard of her conveyancing?
It would not be wise to jump to that conclusion. There are plenty of reasonable explanations. A recent report by the solicitors regulator indicated 76% of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The most common reasons for removal are: (1) low volume of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. Should you be concerned you should simply call the Newtown conveyancing firm and enquire why they are no longer on the approved list for your bank.
My aunt passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Newtown. The house had a small mortgage remaining of approximately £5k. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Nottingham, pay off the mortgage. Is this possible?
Given you intend to re-mortgage then Nottingham will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Nottingham conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Nottingham conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Nottingham mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
I used Action Conveyancing several years ago for my conveyancing in Newtown. I now require my papers however the law firm has closed. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Newtown of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I opted to have a survey completed on a property in Newtown before retaining lawyers. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the house. My surveyor advised that some banks tend refuse to give a mortgage on a flying freehold home.
It depends who your proposed lender is. Bank of Scotland has different requirements from Birmingham Midshires. If you call us we can check with the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Newtown. Conveyancing will be smoother if you use a solicitor in Newtown especially if they regularly deal with such properties in Newtown.
I'm converting the mortgage on my existing property to a buy to let mortgage with Alliance & Leicester and intend to use the remaining equity towards further house. The area we are talking about is Newtown. Will your conveyancers be able to act for the two lenders and tie in the conveyances?
Do use our comparison tool on this site to check that the solicitors are on the appropriate lender panels. Assuming that they are the conveyancer will be able to simultaneously deal with the two deals but you should have a chat with you lawyer and specify your expectations and requirements.