My fiance and I are looking to purchase a property in Somersham and are in fact using a Somersham conveyancing practice. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. National Westminster Bank have this morning contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Somersham lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
Where you are buying a property needing a mortgage it is standard for the purchasers' lawyers to also represent the purchaser's lender. 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your lender 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 are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the bank's conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own Somersham solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
My grandfather passed away last year and as sole heir and executor I was left the property in Somersham. The house had a small mortgage left on it of around £5k. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Coventry BS, pay off the mortgage. Is this allowed?
If you intend to re-mortgage then Coventry BS will require that you use a conveyancer on the Coventry BS conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Coventry BS conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Coventry BS mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
I used Stirling Law a few years ago for my conveyancing in Somersham. I now require my papers but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to help locate your conveyancing files. They can be contacted on please contact on 0870 606 2555. Alternatively, you should use their online form to make an enquiry. You will need to provide the SRA with as much information as possible to assist their search, including the name and address in Somersham of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously retained, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.
In what way can the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 affect my commercial property in Somersham and how can your lawyers assist?
The particular law that you refer to affords security of tenure to commercial lessees, granting the right to apply to court for a renewal tenancy and continue in occupation when the lease reaches an end. There are certain specified grounds that a landlord can refrain from granting a lease renewal and the rules are complicated. Fees are different for commercial conveyancing. Somersham is one of the many areas of the UK in which our lawyers are located
My wife and I expecting to complete on the purchase a house in Somersham but as a result of damage from the recent storms I have negotiated reparation from the owner of four thousand pounds by way of a reduction in the price. I had intended this to be dealt with as part of the conveyancing process but my bank will not agree to this. Should they have been approached?
The conveyancing practitioner being on the mortgage company approved list is duty bound to inform the bank of any variations to the purchase price. In the event that you were to refuse your lawyer to notify the price change to your lender then they would have no choice but to disinstructing themselves from acting for you and the bank.