Me and my fiance are intending to buy a 1 bedroom apartment in Wheatley with a mortgage. We like our Wheatley solicitor, however the bank says he's not on their "panel". It appears that we have little choice but to instruct one of the mortgage company panel solicitors or continue with our Wheatley property lawyer as well as pay for one of their panel ones to act for them. This feels very unfair; is there anything we can do?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your Wheatley conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
The Wheatley conveyancing firm that just started acting on my house acquisition in Wheatley have without warning shut down. I only went with them because I needed a solicitor on the Clydesdale conveyancing panel and my preferred Wheatley lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take one hundred and fifty pounds for searches. 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 the problems encountered. 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 Clydesdale 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 solicitors may be able to help.
I have recentlybeen informed that Stirling Law have closed. They conducted my conveyancing in Wheatley for a purchase of a freehold house 12 months ago. How can I check that my home is not still registered in the name of the previous owner?
The quickest method to see if the premises is registered to you, 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 Wheatley conveyancing specialists.
How does conveyancing in Wheatley differ for newly converted properties?
Most buyers of new build residence in Wheatley approach us having been asked by the seller to exchange contracts and commit to the purchase even before the property is ready to move into. This is because developers in Wheatley typically purchase the land, 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 conveyancing solicitors 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 Wheatley or who has acted in the same development.
As co-executor for the will of my aunt I am disposing of a property in Neath but I am based in Wheatley. My lawyer (based 260 miles awayneeds me to execute a statutory declaration prior to the transaction finalising. Can you recommend a conveyancing solicitor in Wheatley to attest and place their company stamp on the document?
strictly speaking you are unlikely to need to have the documents witnessed by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally any notary public or solicitor will do regardless of whether they are Wheatley based