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Ready to buy a new home? Failing to check that a lawyer is on the Platform HL list of approved solicitors can put your transaction at risk of delay or failure.
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How does my firm apply to be on the Platform Home Loans Ltd Conveyancing Panel? How can my firm be reinstated onto the Platform Home Loans Ltd Conveyancing Panel?Find an Approved Solicitor on the Platform Home Loans Ltd Conveyancing Panel
Q and A’s regarding the Platform Home Loans Conveyancing Panel
I am progressing with the sale of my flat and the estate agent has just telephoned to warn that the buyers are switching property lawyer. I am told that this is due to the fact that Platform Home Loans will only engage with property lawyers on their conveyancing panel. On what basis would a major mortgage company only engage with specific lawyers?
Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for decades.
Banks point to the increase in fraud as the reason 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.
My conveyancer has discovered a difference when comparing the surveyor’s assumptions in Platform Home Loans’s valuation report and what is revealed within the legal papers for the property. My solicitor says that as he is on the Platform Home Loans conveyancing panel he must check that the lender is with this discrepancy and is still content to lend. Is my lawyer’s course or action right?
A precondition to being on the Platform Home Loans approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on Platform Home Loans) which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
Is it necessary during the course of the conveyancing process to visit the offices of the Platform Home Loans conveyancing panel solicitor to sign the legal charge? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in Bristol
so that I can attend their offices if required.
As opposed to 12 years ago, most lenders no longer require their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the borrowers signature. You will still be obliged to provide ID Documents and there are still distinct advantages to using a local solicitor, in your case a conveyancing solicitor in Bristol
.
I was expecting to move into my dream home last Thursday. My solicitor is on the Platform Home Loans solicitors panel but has changed address 8 weeks ago and had not advised Platform Home Loans of their new address. Platform Home Loans is now refusing to release my 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 Platform Home Loans branch or your mortgage broker to see if they can help.
Can I be sure that the solicitor on the Platform Home Loans panel is any good?
Getting recommendations is a good starting point. Before you go ahead check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always recommend that you speak with the solicitor conducting your transaction
I have paid off my mortgage with Platform Home Loans. I assume I don't need a solicitor on the Platform Home Loans panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Platform Home Loans mortgage they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Platform Home Loans mortgage from the register. Platform Home Loans,and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
but are not moving to another property
where the Platform Home Loans has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
the Platform Home Loans has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The Land Registry will send you a letter confirming that your Platform Home Loans mortgage has been paid off.
Me and my partner are buying a terraced house in Hendon. Conveyancing solicitors in Hendon are preferred to begiven the go-ahead. My agentrecommended that we check that the property lawyer in Hendon is on the Platform Home Loans solicitors panel. Is this really necessary?
Not all Hendon conveyancing firms are on the Platform Home Loans conveyancing panel. Use the above search tool to search for a Hendon conveyancing firm on the on the Platform Home Loans solicitors pane.
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Transfer of Equity for Platform Home LoansPlease note that Lexsure Ltd is in no way associated with nor affiliated with Lexsure Solicitors