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approved by New Life Mortgages
Ready to buy a new home? Failing to check that a lawyer is on the New Life Mortgages list of approved solicitors can put your transaction at risk of delay or failure.
Find an Approved Solicitor on the New Life Mortgages Ltd Conveyancing Panel
Examples of recent questions relating to the New Life Mortgages Conveyancing Panel
What is the rationale as to why all UK lawyers are not on the New Life Mortgages Solicitor panel?
As unjust as it may seem for New Life Mortgages to restrict who can act for them from the public’s or solicitor’s point of view, the other side of the coin is that the lenders are becoming ever more anxious and feel the necessary need to protect them from mortgage fraud and other illegal activities. As a result of this concern New Life Mortgages are limiting their conveyancing panel to a size that they are happy to control. The New Life Mortgages solicitor panel is not the most exclusive of all lenders
I do hope you can help me. My conveyancer is advising me that he is legally obliged to conduct a Local Authority search because the firm are on the New Life Mortgages approved lawyer panel. Is this really necessary?
Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. Given that you are taking out a loan with New Life Mortgages 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 New Life Mortgages’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements last updated New Life Mortgages. even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out a local authority search.
Are the lawyers identified as being on the New Life Mortgages conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by New Life Mortgages?
The firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the New Life Mortgages conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from New Life Mortgages directly.
Please explain the implications if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the New Life Mortgages Conveyancing panel before completion?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have ti instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by the regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
Can you point me to a directory of New Life Mortgages panel solicitors on the Building Society Association’s Website?
No. There is no such tool on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association websites. Very few lenders make their panel listings available online.
I had instructed online conveyancers located in Cardiff who are on the New Life Mortgages solicitor panel. They are now charging me a separate fee of £195 for the legal aspects of the New Life Mortgages mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by New Life Mortgages?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitors can charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by New Life Mortgages but by your lawyers. Some firms on the New Life Mortgages will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
My ex -wife’s name is on the New Life Mortgages 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 New Life Mortgages mortgage in order to sell?
As regards the New Life Mortgages 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 New Life Mortgages 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.