Find an Approved Solicitor on the Penrith Building Society
Conveyancing Panel
FAQs : The Penrith Building Society Conveyancing Panel
I am progressing with the sale of my flat and the estate agent has just e-mailed to say that the buyers are swapping solicitor. I am told that this is due to the fact that Penrith Building Society will only deal with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a major lender only deal with certain solicitors?
UK lenders have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 15 years.
Lenders point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been tightened and a smaller panel should be easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels, or have other concerns about them. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyer’s case. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.
Can you clarify something for me?. For no fault of my lawyer but, my purchase conveyancing has been going on for months. The Local Authority Search from Penrith Building Society was dated random date and we have agreed a date for me to move into the property on 6 months + 3. My lawyer has advised that as she is on the Penrith Building Society conveyancing panel she needs to redo the searches as they are no longer valid.
One of the many conditions to being on the Penrith Building Society approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on Penrith Building Society)which specifies that a local authority search be not more than half a year old. You should nevertheless ask your lawyer to check whether something called ‘search validation’ indemnity insurance is acceptable to Penrith Building Society.
Having used your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the Penrith Building Society conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the Penrith Building Society approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?
Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the Penrith Building Society conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the Penrith Building Society solicitor panel.
I am mortgaging my apartment does my lawyer have to be on the Penrith Building Society Conveyancing panel?
In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on Penrith Building Society conveyancing panel, but Penrith Building Society would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same conveyancing matter.
Intending to buy a house with a mortgage with Penrith Building Society. I have received an online quote from a licensed conveyancer, which states: "There will be no charge for dealing with the Lender if you are obtaining a mortgage". I take this to mean that there will be no additional fee if the solicitor is on the Penrith Building Society conveyancing panel. I wanted to make sure it means there will be no additional fees for dealing with the mortgage.
They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that they are on the Penrith Building Society conveyancing panel
My ex -wife’s name is on the Penrith 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 Penrith Building Society mortgage in order to sell?
In terms of the Penrith 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 Penrith 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.
My offer on house has been accepted, but there is a chain. The vendors have offered on somewhere, but not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other properties in the pipeline. My conveyancing solicitor has been instructed. What do I do now? When should I get the mortgage app going with Penrith Building Society?
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 Penrith Building Society 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 Penrith Building Society and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.