I am selling my house in Dorridge and the EA has just called to advise that the buyers are appointing a new law firm. The reason given is that the mortgage company will only engage with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a big named lender only work with certain solicitors rather the firm that they want to appoint for their conveyancing in Dorridge ?
Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms that can represent them, 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 acted for them for over 25 years.
Banks blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been narrowed as a smaller panel is 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 hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels. Plenty of firms are unaware that they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyers' case. The purchasers are unlikely to have any impact on this.
The mortgage over my property is with Virgin Money for my property in Dorridge. Conveyancing has been completed 12 months 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 BTL mortgage or inform Virgin Money?
Virgin Money must be informed of your intention in advance of letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Virgin Money’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies 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 Virgin Money directly. You need not do this via a Virgin Money conveyancing panel lawyer.
The formalities of my purchase has taken place for my property in Dorridge. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about the lender. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
Most banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the lender’s branches or the Customer Services Department at head office. Ordinarily complaints to a lender are resolved very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is not resolved you can write to Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on an apartment in Dorridge. My financial adviser suggested a property lawyer. I paid an advanced payment of £225. Not long after, the conveyancer contacted me to say that they were not on the Skipton 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 Skipton 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.
What can a local search tell me regarding the house I am buying in Dorridge?
Dorridge conveyancing often commences with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company for instance Onsearch The local search plays an important part in most Dorridge conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any unpleasant surprises after you move into your new home. The search should provide information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications relevant to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of thirteen topic sections.
My wife and I purchased a 4 bedroom Victorian house in Dorridge. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and The Mortgage Works. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You should assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Dorridge and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with mortgage companies. You can also enquire as to the position with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the work.
Am I best advised to choose a Dorridge conveyancing lawyer in close proximity to the house I am purchasing? We have a good friend who can carry out the conveyancing however his firm is located 400kilometers away.
The benefit of a high street Dorridge conveyancing practice is that you can drop in to execute documents, present your ID and pester them if necessary. They will also have local intelligence which is a plus. However it's more important to get someone that will pull out all the stops for you. If you know people who instructed your friend and on the whole were happy that should surpass using an unfamiliar Dorridge conveyancing lawyer solely due to them being Dorridge based.