Banks and Clients Solicitor Panel Recently Asked Questions from members of the public
I am expecting a mortgage offer from Banks and Clients. my intention is to instruct a Licensed Conveyancer. Does the Banks and Clients Solicitor panel include Licensed Conveyancers
Banks and Clients’s conveyancing panel is, like many other lenders associated to the Council or Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
My wife and I intend to remortgage our apartment with Banks and Clients. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. The solicitor on the Banks and Clients conveyancing panel requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Banks and Clients conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 3 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his rights to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong 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 Banks and Clients .This is solely used to protect the Banks and Clients 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 Banks and Clients 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.
I require the services of a Banks and Clients panel solicitor in Inverness. Could you help me?
It is not clear why you need a Banks and Clients panel solicitor but in any event, if you can not find one on our search tool you will need to speak directly to Banks and Clients to find out which solicitors in Banks and Clients are on their panel. If you do find such a firm not listed please direct them to our site to list. At a fee of one pound per month it is not expensive to register on the site
My lawyers in London have advised me that no longer have my conveyancing file. To assist with my purchase I took out a mortgage with Banks and Clients. Is it case that being on the Banks and Clients conveyancing panel they need to have retained the file for a number of years?
Different lenders have different requirements but many of the Terms and Conditions of Conveyancing Panel Appointment require the file to be held for a period of 6 years. That being said we have not seen a copy of the Banks and Clients Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting Banks and Clients directly.
I have paid off my mortgage with Banks and Clients. I assume I don't need a solicitor on the Banks and Clients panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Banks and Clients mortgage they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Banks and Clients mortgage from the register. Banks and Clients,and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
but are not moving to another property
where the Banks and Clients has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
the Banks and Clients has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The Land Registry will send you a letter confirming that your Banks and Clients mortgage has been paid off.
Can I register a complaint to Banks and Clients about the lawyers being on the Banks and Clients conveyancing panel?
There is little point in complaining directly to Banks and Clients. Every solicitor firm and conveyancer must have a complaints procedure. Usually one can find this information from the solicitor’s or conveyancer’s website or ask at their office. They must tell you about it if you ask.
The Legal Ombudsman will make sure that your complaint is properly dealt with by the solicitor. It can also advise you how to complain.
If a licensed conveyancer does not have a complaints procedure or will not tell you about it, contact the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), which will make sure that your complaint is properly dealt with by the conveyancer. Please see below for more information.
I have instructed a lawyer having made sure that they are on the Banks and Clients conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
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Having digested plenty of house buying,I note that it is considered advisable to get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my solicitor - who is on the Banks and Clients conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Banks and Clients will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Banks and Clients will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey.
You may wish to consider appointing your own surveyor to carry out a survey or prepare a home buyers report on the property. It is up to you to satisfy yourself that the property is structurally sound before you buy it. If the survey or report reveals that building work is needed, you should tell your solicitor. You may wish to renegotiate with the seller.
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Your lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with Banks and Clients you could contact your them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors.