The Rickmansworth conveyancing firm that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Rickmansworth have without warning shut down. I chose them because I had to have a lawyer on the UBS conveyancing panel and my preferred Rickmansworth lawyer was not. I paid them money in advance. What should be my next steps?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the UBS conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money, it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to help.
Me and my brother have a renovated Edwardian house in Rickmansworth. Conveyancing solicitor represented me and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. I did a free Land Registry search last week and there are two entries: the first freehold, the second leasehold under the exact same address. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Rickmansworth and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with buyers. You can also check the situation with your conveyancing lawyer who conducted the purchase.
I'm purchasing my first flat in Rickmansworth benefiting from help to buy. The sellers would not move on the price so I negotiated 6k of fixtures and fittings instead. The property agent told me not reveal to my solicitor about the extras as it will affect my mortgage with the lender. Is this normal?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the builder of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
Do I need to be wary that estate agents that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use an online conveyancing firm as opposed to a High Street Rickmansworth conveyancing firm?
As with lots of service providers, often suggestions from connections can be worth their weight in gold. Yet there are lots of players in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, financial adviser and lenders may suggest conveyancers to instruct. Sometimes these lawyers might be known to one of the organisations as experts in their field, but occasionally there behind the scenes commercial relationship behind the recommendation. You are at liberty to choose your own conveyancer. You need to be aware that most banks specify a panel list of solicitors you must use for the lender related work in your house move.
In searching the internet for the words cheap conveyancing in Rickmansworth it brings up numerous solicitorsin the vicinity. With so much choice what is the best way to find the suitable property lawyer for the sale of my house?
The ideal method of choosing a suitable conveyancer is through a trusted recommendation, so seek the counsel of friends and family who have acquired a property in Rickmansworth or a reputable estate agent or financial adviser. Costs for conveyancing in Rickmansworth vary, so it's sensible to secure at least four fee estimates from varying types of solicitors. Be sure to obtain confirmation what costs in the quote includes.