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Q and A’s regarding the Accord Buy to Let Conveyancing Panel
My IFA has asked me for my lawyer’ panel member for the Accord Buy to Let conveyancing panel. Can you suggest how I find this out. I have tried my local Accord Buy to Let branch but they have not got back to me yet.
Have you tried speaking to your lawyer about this?. A law firm is likely to keep a file or database of lender panel information which would include, if applicable their conveyancing panel details for Accord Buy to Let.
My husband and I changing mortgage lender for our apartment with Accord Buy to Let. We have a son 18 who lives with us. The solicitor on the Accord Buy to Let conveyancing panel requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Accord Buy to Let conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 4 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Accord Buy to Let conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Accord Buy to Let .This is solely used to protect the Accord Buy to Let if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave.
It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Accord Buy to Let had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
Do all the licensed conveyancers and solicitor practices listed on your directory have online case tracking as I understood that this was a condition of being on the Accord Buy to Let solicitor panel?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders or BSA do not require online case tracking. Some law firms operate such technology and some don't.
The lawyers that just started acting on my house acquisition in London has without warning closed. I only went with them because I had to have a firm on the Accord Buy to Let conveyancing panel and my previous lawyer was not. I paid them £200 on account. What do I do now?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Accord Buy to Let 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 may be able to help
Do the majority of banks operate their own panel of solicitors?
Many lenders do operate a restricted conveyancing panel but a lot of lenders allow any solicitors to join their panel so long as they meet their criteria. Each lender sets their own criteria. For example the Accord Buy to Let conveyancing panel requirements are different to Accord Buy to Let’s conveyancing panel requirements.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their lawyers I paid an upfront payment of 200. Soon after the conveyancers contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Accord Buy to Let 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 Accord Buy to Let 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.
At last I have had an offer on an apartment accepted, the seller does however have a dependent purchase. The vendors have offered on somewhere, but not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other properties booked. My conveyancing solicitor has been instructed. What do I do now? At what point should I appy for the mortgage with Accord Buy to Let?
It is usual to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (mortgage application is approx £1k, then survey/valuation, conveyancing search costs, etc). First you should check that your solicitor is on the Accord Buy to Let conveyancing panel. As to the next stages this very much depends on the circumstances of your case, desire for this property and on the state of the market. In a hot mortgage some buyers would pally for the mortgage with Accord Buy to Let and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.
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