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approved by Scottish BS
Ready to buy a new home? Failing to check that a lawyer is on the Scottish BS 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 Scottish Building Society Conveyancing Panel? How can my firm be reinstated onto the Scottish Building Society Conveyancing Panel?Find an Approved Solicitor on the Scottish Building Society Conveyancing Panel
Q and A’s regarding the Scottish Building Society Conveyancing Panel
My husband and I are buying a 2 bedroom apartment in Leeds with a mortgage from Scottish Building Society. We like our lawyer but Scottish Building Society says he's not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the Scottish Building Society panel firms or keep our solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that Scottish Building Society use our lawyer?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the Scottish Building Society conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Scottish Building Society
Our solicitor has uncovered a problem with the lease for the property we are buying. The seller’s lawyers have suggested title insurance as a solution. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our lawyer has advised that as he is on the Scottish Building Society conveyancing panel he must be satisfied that the lender is happy with this solution. Are we the client or is Scottish Building Society?
Just because you have a mortgage offer from Scottish Building Society does not mean to say that the property will be meet their requirements for the purposes of a mortgage. Your lawyer has to ensure that the lease has to comply with the CML Handbook Requirements. You and Scottish Building Society are the client. The appropriate lender requirements have to be complied with by the Scottish Building Society conveyancing panel who has to balance acting for you and Scottish Building Society
I am planning to acquire a property and need a conveyancing solicitor in London who is on the Scottish Building Society conveyancing. Can you recommend a local firm?
Our service is a directory service for firms who wish to be listed as being on the approved conveyancing panel for Scottish Building Society . We don’t recommend any particular firm.
The firm that I appointed last week on my house acquisition in London has without warning closed. They were on acting for me because I had to have a solicitor on the Scottish Building Society conveyancing panel and my preferred lawyer was not. I paid them £200 on account. What do I do now?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Scottish Building Society conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to assist
I had instructed online conveyancers based in Birmingham who are on the Scottish Building Society solicitor panel. They have just invoiced me a separate fee of £150 for dealing with the Scottish Building Society mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Scottish Building Society?
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 Scottish Building Society but by your lawyers. Some firms on the Scottish Building Society will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but plenty of firms include it on their overall fee.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers I paid an upfront payment of 175. Soon after the conveyancers contacted me to say that they were not on the Scottish Building Society conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Scottish Building Society panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
My offer on house has been accepted, the seller does however have a dependent purchase. The vendors have offered on somewhere, but not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other properties booked. My conveyancing solicitor has been instructed. What should be my next step? At what point should I appy for the mortgage with Scottish 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 Scottish 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 Scottish Building Society and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.