Find an Approved Solicitor on the Beverley Building Society
Conveyancing Panel
Q and A’s regarding the Beverley Building Society Solicitor Panel
My partner and I are FTBs. Within the 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to sign with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Beverley Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's solicitors to also act for 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 Quality Scheme.
Your solicitors should contact Beverley Building Society and see if they can apply for membership of the Beverley Building Society conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Beverley Building Society will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Beverley Building Society conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Please help. My conveyancer is advising me that he is legally obliged to conduct a Local Authority search stemming from the fact that the firm are on the Beverley Building Society conveyancing panel. Is my lawyer correct?
You have limited options available to you. Given that you are taking out a loan with Beverley Building Society your lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your lawyer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of Beverley Building Society’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements last updated Beverley Building Society. even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out a local authority search.
I am planning to acquire a property and require a conveyancing solicitor in Leeds who is on the Beverley Building Society conveyancing. Could you point me in the right direction as regards a firm?
Our service is a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Beverley Building Society . We don’t recommend any particular firm.
My lawyers in Newcastle have advised me that they can not locate my conveyancing file. To assist with my purchase I took out a mortgage with Beverley Building Society. Is it case that being on the Beverley Building Society conveyancing panel they need to have retained the file for a prescribed period?
It very much depends from lender to lender but many of the Terms and Conditions of Conveyancing Panel Appointment require the file to be held for a period of 6 years. That being said we have not seen a copy of the Beverley Building Society Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting Beverley Building Society directly.
Do most 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 Beverley Building Society conveyancing panel requirements are different to Beverley Building Society’s conveyancing panel requirements.
Can I register a complaint to Beverley Building Society about the lawyers being on the Beverley Building Society conveyancing panel?
Complaining to Beverley Building Society about their conveyancing panel is unlikely to yield much of a response. All solicitors and conveyancer must have a complaints procedure. Usually one can find this information from the solicitor’s or conveyancer’s website or ask at their office. They must tell you about it if you ask.
The Legal Ombudsman will make sure that your complaint is properly dealt with by the solicitor. It can also advise you how to complain.
If a licensed conveyancer does not have a complaints procedure or will not tell you about it, contact the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), which will make sure that your complaint is properly dealt with by the conveyancer. Please see below for more information.
My ex -wife’s name is on the Beverley Building Society mortgage of my property but not on the land registry. The apartment was transferred to me on our divorce many years ago by way of a sealed court order. Does my ex still have a say on the sale even though the land registry showing the property in my name alone? Will I be required to take her name of the Beverley Building Society mortgage in order to sell?
In terms of the Beverley Building Society mortgage, it is unusual that your ex-wife’s name remains on the mortgage but not on the title. It is conceivable that this is an oversight on the part of your conveyancers to ensure that her name was removed or even an administrative error on the part of Beverley Building Society in failing to update their data. In any event, it should cause difficulty providing her name no longer appears on the Land Registry title and you have a court order ordering that the property is transferred to you.