My partner and I are planning to buy a home in Witham and are in fact using a Witham conveyancing firm. Within the past 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. TSB have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our Witham lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property requiring a mortgage it is normal 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyer should contact your mortgage company 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 Witham solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
The owners of the home we are purchasing are using a conveyancing practitioner in Witham who has insisted on a preliminary agreement with a payment 10k. Is it wise to enter into such agreements?
There are two primary concerns with signing a lock out contract (occasionally known as a no-shop agreement) is that it can distract from moving forward with the conveyancing work, so in the absence of it needing minimal or no negotiation then it could turn out to be a hindrance. It is not strongly advocated amongst Witham conveyancing practitioners for this reason. A supplemental negative is the extent of the remedies available - an aggrieved buyer is not likely to be granted injunctive relief to stop the vendor disposing of the property to a third party, so the only remedy open via the agreement will be the recovery of wasted charges and, in limited scenarios, the additional payment of damages.
Despite weeks of looking the Title Certificate and documents to our home can not be found. The lawyers who did the conveyancing in Witham 4 years ago no longer exist. What are my options?
These day there are copies made of almost everything, and your conveyancer will know precisely where to find all the relevant documentation so you may buy or sell your property without any difficulty. Where duplicates can’t be located, your conveyancer may be able to put in place insurance or indemnities against possible claims on your premises.
I've recently found out that there is a flying freehold issue on a property I have offered on last month in what should have been a simple, chain free conveyancing. Witham is where the house is located. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Flying freeholds in Witham are rare but are more likely to exist in relation to terraced houses. Even where you use a solicitor outside Witham you would need to get your solicitor to go through the deeds very carefully. Your lender may require your conveyancing solicitor to take out an indemnity policy. Some of the more diligent conveyancing solicitors in Witham may decide that this is not enough and that the deeds be re-written to give you the most up to date legal protection. If so, the next door neighbour also had to sign up to the revised deeds.It is possible that your lender will not accept the situation so the sooner you find out the better. You should also check with your insurance broker as to whether they will insure a flying freehold residence.
I am purchasing a garden flat in Witham. Conveyancing lawyer has been awaiting, from the vendor, building insurance paperwork. This morning I was advised that the seller needs to send the insurance schedule for the flat above in addition. Why would my property lawyer want to review the insurance for the flat above? Is it strictly necessary? We have been stalled for the previous month…
It is not impossible in leasehold conveyancing in Witham to find Conveyancing in Witham in a minority of cases reveals that the lease obliges the tenant's to insure their individual flats as opposed to the landlord insuring the whole building - which is clearly preferable. Do clarify with your conveyancer but it would seem that your solicitor is attempting to establish that the complete building is insured. Insuring your apartment is no help when it comes to rebuilding after a fire if the other flat cannot be rebuilt for lack of insurance.