Frequently asked questions relating to the April Mortgages Solicitor Panel from members of the public
On what basis could a firm of solicitors be excluded from the April Mortgages solicitor panel?
A survey recently commissioned by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority found that three quarters of law firms had been excluded from a lender panel. The top reasons in order are :
- Low volume of transactions
- the lawyer is a sole practitioner
- as part of the HSBC panel reduction
- regulatory contact by SRA
- accidental removal. We are not aware of the specific or common criteria for removal by April Mortgages
My wife and I intend to remortgage our apartment with April Mortgages. We have a son 19 who lives with us. The solicitor on the April Mortgages conveyancing panel has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this form unique to the April Mortgages conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his rights to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your April Mortgages 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 April Mortgages .This is solely used to protect the April Mortgages 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 April Mortgages 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.
Do all the licensed conveyancers and solicitor practices listed on your directory have online case tracking as I was under the impression that this was a precondition of being on the April Mortgages conveyancing panel?
No. There is no CML Part 2 or Building Society Association requirement relating to online case tracking. Some law firms operate such technology and some don't.
We're in Wales, FTBs buying with a mortgage (lender is April Mortgages , but our lawyer is on the April Mortgages conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the April Mortgages conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancer should guarantee a time-frame for your conveyancing due to third parties outside of our control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain
Do conveyancing solicitors on the April Mortgages conveyancing panel work on a no move no charge basis?
On the whole there are no requirements by lenders for their firms to operate on a no-sale-no-fee basis. There a small number of lenders who operate a very restricted conveyancing panel managed by a third party company (often termed in the industry as a ‘gatekeeper’). That third party may impose certain conditions such as non-sale-no fee on the panel firms. If you require this as a condition of your conveyancing then you should check with the conveyancing firm that this is part of their service
I am currently in the process of buying my council flat. I have a mortgage offer with April Mortgages. Conveyancing is new to me. Can I proceed without a solicitor easily? I think we can but we keep being told I should have one. Any advice?
It is not advisable proceed with a house purchase without a solicitor. The council's solicitor are not acting for you. You need a solicitor for a number reasons. One of which is to verify what plans the Council have for repairs and refurbishment for the next five years. Many leaseholders have been stung for contributions of thousands of pounds. In any event if you are getting a mortgage with April Mortgages you will need to appoint a solicitor on the April Mortgages conveyancing panel.
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their lawyers I paid an upfront payment of 225. Soon after the conveyancers contacted me to say that they were not on the April Mortgages 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 April Mortgages 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.