Q and A’s regarding the Darlington Building Society Solicitor Panel from members of the public
Am I correct in assuming that the fact that my solicitor is not identified on the Darlington Building Society Conveyancing panel that there is a problem with the standard of her work?
It would not be wise to jump to that conclusion. There are all sorts of perfectly reasonable explanations. A recent report by the solicitors regulator indicated 76% of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The top 3 reasons are as follows: (1) lack of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. If you are concerned you should simply call the firm and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for Darlington Building Society.
Our solicitor has informed me that he requires identification documents asserting that this forms part of his retainer as a solicitor on the Darlington Building Society Conveyancing panel. Can you confirm whether this is the case?
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 Terms and Conditions that you need to sign will no doubt confirm this. Your lawyer is right that Darlington Building Society 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 Darlington Building Society CML Handbook requirements last updated on Darlington Building Society
How do I search for a local solicitor on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 25 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.
I am selling my house. Does my solicitor have to be on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. it might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their requirements fairly frequently at the moment.
Do the majority of banks operate their own panel of solicitors?
Many lenders do operate a restricted conveyancing panel but a lot of lenders allow any solicitors to join their panel so long as they meet their criteria. Each lender sets their own criteria. For example the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel requirements are different to Darlington Building Society’s conveyancing panel requirements.
I am selling my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in month 2010 but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My buyer's mortgage company, Darlington Building Society are being pedantic. The solicitor who is on the Darlington Building Society conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Darlington Building Society are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Darlington Building Society have a conveyancing panel of they don’t accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Darlington Building Society have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Darlington Building Society may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing correctly and safely installed. It merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
My ex -wife’s name is on the Darlington Building Society mortgage of my property but not on the land registry. The apartment was transferred to me on our divorce many years ago by way of a sealed court order. Does my ex still have a say on the sale even though the land registry showing the property in my name alone? Will I be required to take her name of the Darlington Building Society mortgage in order to sell?
As regards the Darlington Building Society mortgage, it is unusual that your ex-wife’s name remains on the mortgage but not on the title. It is conceivable that this is an oversight on the part of your conveyancers to ensure that her name was removed or even an administrative error on the part of Darlington Building Society in failing to update their data. In any event, it should cause difficulty providing her name no longer appears on the Land Registry title and you have a court order ordering that the property is transferred to you.