My wife and I are planning to purchase a flat in Rochdale and have instructed a Rochdale conveyancing firm. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to be signed with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our Rochdale conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is conventional for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent 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 property lawyer should contact your bank 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 lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Rochdale solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We are planning to acquire a house and require a conveyancing solicitor in Rochdale who is on the approved panel. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a solicitor?
Our service is limited to being a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for . We don't recommend any particular firms conducting conveyancing in Rochdale.
I have a decision in principle. The lender mentioned the loan came with free conveyancing. Does this mean I have to use their panel solicitor as I would prefer to instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in Rochdale?
You should check but the chances are that appoint one of their panel solicitors where you take up the "fee-free" offer. Contact the mortgage company and explore if they make available a monetary alternative. It is not unheard for a lender to give a £250 cashback as an alternative in which case you could put that amount towards the cost for your conveyancing solicitor in Rochdale.
I used Arc property Solicitors several years ago for my conveyancing in Rochdale. Now, I need the files however the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate 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 Rochdale of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously hired, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
I need to retain a conveyancing solicitor for some conveyancing in Rochdale. I have stumble upon a site which looks to be the perfect answer If there is a chance to get all this stuff done via web that would be preferable. Should I be wary? What should out be looking out for?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?