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Ready to buy a new home? Failing to check that a lawyer is on the Co Op Bank list of approved solicitors can put your transaction at risk of delay or failure.
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My partner and I are FTBs. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Co operative Bank have this morning contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
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 property lawyers should contact Co operative Bank and see if they can apply for membership of the Co operative Bank conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Co operative Bank will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the Co operative Bank conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
I am purchasing a newly constructed flat and my lawyer is informing me that she is duty bound to disclose incentives from the seller as her practice is on the Co operative Bank conveyancing panel. I am on a tight deadline to exchange and I dont want to delay the conveyancing. Can I insist on an exchange regardless of what my lawyer says about being on the Co operative Bank panel?
You should not exchange unless you have advised to do so by your lawyer. A precondition to being on the Co operative Bank approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on Co operative Bank). The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.
What tools are available to search for a local solicitor on the Co operative Bank conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 25 kilometers to meet the lawyer.
You can use the find a conveyancing panel search on this website. Please choose the lender and your location and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest you. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the Co operative Bank solicitor panel.
I was due to complete on my first house yesterday. My solicitor is on the Co operative Bank solicitors panel but has changed address 8 weeks ago and had not advised Co operative Bank of their new address. Co operative Bank has locked down the release of mortgage funds until such time as their systems are up to date with the correct details.
This is as unusual as it is unlucky. Most lender Terms of Conveyancing Panel Appointment specifically oblige the solicitor to inform the lender of an address change. Your solicitor needs to treat this with the utmost urgency. Do speak with or register your concern with the senior partner (assuming he or she is not your direct lawyer). Most lenders would be reasonable in this situation and expedite the resolution of this issue. It may be prudent to enlist the help of your local Co operative Bank branch or your mortgage broker to see if they can help.
My wife and I have arranged a further advance on our mortgage from Co operative Bank as we wish to carry out alterations or improvements our home. Do we need to appoint a solicitor on the Co operative Bank conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Co operative Bank do not ordinarily instruct firms on their approved list of lawyers to deal with such a matter. If they did require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Co operative Bank list
The mortgage over my property is with Co operative Bank. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. Should I wish to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Co operative Bank?
Co operative Bank must be informed of your intention in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Co operative Bank’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Co operative Bank will permit you to let out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact Co operative Bank directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Co operative Bank conveyancing panel solicitor.
I was told two weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed
to by Co operative Bank. Is it usual for Co operative Bank to only issue the offer once my
solicitor is approved on their conveyancing panel?
Mortgage companies tend not to not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Co operative Bank to deal with your lawyers application to be on the Co operative Bank conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitors will be accepted.