Darlington Building Society Solicitor Panel Example Support Desk Enquires from members of the public
For what reasons would a law firm be excluded from the Darlington Building Society approved conveyancing panel?
According to a recent survey report by the solicitors regulator three quarters of solicitor practices had been removed from a lender panel. The most common 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 Darlington Building Society
Our lawyer has requested from me proof of ID documents stating that this is part of his retainer as a solicitor on the Darlington Building Society Conveyancing panel. Can this be correct?
Due to Money Laundering Regulations your conveyancing lawyer is duty bound to confirm positively your identification when entering into a business relationship with you. It is a criminal offense if your lawyer not do this. If you do not provide ID early in the transaction the solicitor must refuse to act for you. It’s unlikely a lawyer will turn you away if you come to the first meeting without relevant ID but you will have to produce it at some point so you might as well bring it with you to the initial meeting so the lawyer can tick the ID verification box and start sorting out the conveyancing straight away. If you are getting a mortgage with Darlington Building Society your lawyer also has to check ID documents to satisfy Darlington Building Society
How do I find a local solicitor on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 10 miles to meet the conveyancer.
You can use the find a conveyancing panel tool on this page. Please choose the lender and your location and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest you. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the Darlington Building Society solicitor panel.
My solicitors in Leeds have advised me that they can not locate my conveyancing file. To assist with my purchase I took out a mortgage with Darlington Building Society. Is it case that being on the Darlington Building Society 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 Darlington Building Society Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting Darlington Building Society directly.
Is it the case that all conveyancing lawyers on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel work on a no sale no fee 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 package
We were going to get a DIP from Darlington Building Society this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc).Do the Darlington Building Society recommend a solicitor on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer
You will need to appoint solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and the Darlington Building Society through the process.
At last I have had an offer on an apartment accepted, but there is a chain. The vendors have offered on somewhere, but not been accepted yet, and have viewings of other properties in the pipeline. My conveyancing solicitor has been instructed. What should be my next step? When should I get the mortgage app going with Darlington Building Society?
It is usual to have concerns where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (mortgage application is approx £1k, then survey/valuation, conveyancing search costs, etc). First you should check that your solicitor is on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel. As to the next stages this very much depends on the circumstances of your case, desire for this property and on the state of the market. In a hot mortgage some buyers would pally for the mortgage with Darlington Building Society and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.