Birmingham Bank Solicitor Panel Sample Enquires to our Call Center from members of the public
My wife and I are FTBs. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Birmingham Bank have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's solicitors to also act for 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 solicitors should contact Birmingham Bank and see if they can apply for membership of the Birmingham Bank conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Birmingham Bank will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Birmingham Bank conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
My conveyancer has informed me that he requires proof of ID documents asserting that this forms part of his obligations as a conveyancer on the Birmingham Bank Solicitor panel. Is this right?
Anti-terror and anti-money-laundering rules require solicitors and licensed conveyancers to verify the identity of the person or body they are dealing with before they can accept their conveyancing business. The Client Care letter that you need to sign will no doubt confirm this. Your lawyer is right that Birmingham Bank also require certain documents to be viewed. If a you refuse to provide ID verification documents, your conveyancer would not be able to accept instructions from you. Your lawyer also has obligations to obtain certain documents in accordance with Birmingham Bank CML Handbook requirements last updated on Birmingham Bank
Having used your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the Birmingham Bank conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the Birmingham Bank approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?
Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the Birmingham Bank conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the Birmingham Bank solicitor panel.
Please explain the implications if my solicitor is removed from the Birmingham Bank Conveyancing panel before completion?
The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have ti instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by the regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
I had instructed online conveyancers located in Manchester who are on the Birmingham Bank solicitor panel. They are now charging me a separate fee of £150 for dealing with the Birmingham Bank mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Birmingham Bank?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitors can charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by Birmingham Bank but by your lawyers. Some firms on the Birmingham Bank will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
I have decided to exercise my right to buy my property off the council. I have a mortgage offer with Birmingham Bank. Conveyancing is not something I have any knowledge of. 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 Birmingham Bank you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Birmingham Bank conveyancing panel.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a solicitor having checked that they are on the Birmingham Bank conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
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Having digested plenty of house buying,I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my solicitor - who is on the Birmingham Bank conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
Birmingham Bank will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually Birmingham Bank 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 Birmingham Bank you could contact your them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors.