My wife and I are buying a 1 bedroom apartment in Watchet with a mortgage. We like our Watchet solicitor, but the lender says he's not on their "panel". It appears that we have no choice but to use one of the lender panel firms or continue with our Watchet conveyancer and pay for one of their panel firms to represent them. This feels very unfair; is there anything we can do?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the bank’s 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. Another option that might be available is for your Watchet conveyancing solicitor to apply to be on the conveyancing panel.
My partner and I intend to remortgage our maisonette in Watchet with Nationwide. We have a son 19 who lives with us. Our solicitor requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this form unique to the Nationwide conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Nationwide conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Nationwide. This is solely used to protect Nationwide if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave. It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Nationwide had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
Can I use your services to find a Conveyancing solicitor in Watchet even where I’m not buying or disposing of a house, for example where I want to acquire a shop in Watchet with a mortgage from Birmingham Midshires?
The service is predominantly used to locate residential conveyancing solicitors in Watchet but we have recorded towards the end of this page a selection of Watchet commercial conveyancing firms. You will need to speak with the company directly to check if they can also act for Birmingham Midshires
I am considering remortgaging my property in Watchet, does my lawyer have to be on the Barclays Solicitor panel?
There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor, but Barclays will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is much more potential for delays and confusion with two solicitors involved, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.
I used Action Conveyancing several years past for my conveyancing in Watchet. Now, I need the documents but the law firm is no longer operating. What do I do?
Do call the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) to assist in tracing 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 Watchet of the conveyancing firm of solicitors you previously instructed, the name of conveyancing solicitor with whom you had dealings, and the date on which you last had dealings with the firm.