Will lawyers request an advanced payment for my conveyancing in Sunderland?
If you are buying a property in Sunderland your solicitor will ask you place them with funds to cover the search fees. Ordinarily this is asked for to cover the fees of the Local Authority Search. If any down payment is payable against the sale price then this will be asked for immediately in advance of exchange of contracts. The closing balance that is needed will be payable a couple of days ahead of the completion date.
My husband and I are purchasing a newbuild apartment in Sunderland with a mortgage from Halifax.We use our Sunderland conveyancing lawyer but Halifax advised that his firm is not listed on their "panel". It seems we have little choice but to instruct a Halifax panel firm or retain our preferred solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. We feel as though this is unjust; Can we not simply insist that Halifax use our lawyer?
No, not really. The mortgage issued to you contains various provisions, one of which will be that solicitors will be on the Halifax approved list. Until recently, most banks had large numbers of solicitors on their panels: a borrower could find 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 Halifax
Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unexperienced as a first time buyer of a two bedroom flat in Sunderland. Do I pick up the keys to the property on completion from my conveyancer? If so, I will instruct a High Street conveyancing solicitor in Sunderland?
There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will transfer the completion advance to the vendor’s lawyers, and shortly after the monies have arrived, you should be called to collect the keys from the Estate Agents and start moving into the property. This tends to happen early afternoon.
I happen to be the single recipient of my late grandmother’s will and I have everything in my name now, including the house in Sunderland. The Sunderland property was put into my name in December. I plan to dispose of the house. I understand that there is a CML 6 month 'rule', which means that my proprietorship could be considered the same way as though I had purchased the house in December. Will no one buy the property for half a year?
The CML handbook obliges conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you may be affected by that. Some mortgage companies would take a sensible view as this requirement is principally there to capture subsales or the wholesaling and assigning of properties.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house in Sunderland. My financial adviser pressured me to appoint their conveyancer. I paid an advanced payment of £175. A few days later, the conveyancer called me to say that they were not on the Principality 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 Principality 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.
We are buying a property and the conveyancer has raised the issue of Chancel Repair to which the house could be obligated to contribute to because it falls into the area of such a church. She has suggested insurance. Is this strictly required for conveyancing in Sunderland
Unless a prior purchase of the premises completed after 12 October 2013 you can expect lawyers carrying out conveyancing in Sunderland to remain recommending a chancel search and or chancel repair liability insurance.
I need to instruct a conveyancing lawyer in Sunderland for my sale. Is there any facility to see a solicitor's record with the profession’s regulator?
Anyone may review published Solicitor Regulator Association (SRA) determinations resulting from investigations commenced on or after 1 January 2008. Go to Check a solicitor's record. To find information about the period before 1 January 2008, or to check a firm's history, phone 0870 606 2555, 08.00 - 18.00 any week day save for Tuesday when lines open at 9.30am. For callers outside the UK, dial +44 (0)121 329 6800. The SRA may recorded telephone calls for training requirements.