My wife and I are hoping to acquire a flat in Fairlop and have instructed a Fairlop conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Aldermore have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our Fairlop conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with mortgage finance it is usual for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the mortgage company. In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitor should contact your bank and see if they can apply for membership of their conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable they will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the lender’s conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Fairlop solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
I am buying a semi-detached house in Fairlop. How practical is it for me to do the conveyancing?
Leaving aside the complexities and merits of DIY conveyancing in Fairlop you will have to appoint a solicitor on your mortgage company's conveyancing panel to look after their interests. Most people therefore find it easier to let the solicitor act for them and the lender. Furthermore there is minimal cost savings to be made in you doing conveyancing for yourself and another lawyer conducting the conveyancing for the lender. Please feel free to use the search tool to find a lawyer on your lender panel in Fairlop.
My wife and I purchased a semi-detached Edwardian property in Fairlop. Conveyancing practitioner acted for me and The Royal Bank of Scotland. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the matching property. I'd like to know for sure, how can I find out??
You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Fairlop and other locations in 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 lenders. You can also enquire as to the situation with your conveyancing practitioner who carried out the work.
I need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor for residential conveyancing in Fairlop. I have chance upon a web site which looks to be the ideal offering If there is a chance to get all the legals done via phone that would be ideal. Do I need to be wary? What should out be looking out for?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?
Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold house in Fairlop. Conveyancing and Accord Mortgages Ltd mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Fairlop who acted for me is not around. Any advice?
The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Fairlop conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.
After months of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Fairlop. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?
in cases where there is a absentee landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to make a decision on the sum to be paid.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Fairlop property is 104 Coventry Road in July 2014. The Tribunal determined that the lease extension permium should be £22,896.15 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 60.29 years.