Frequently asked questions relating to the Handelsbanken Solicitor Panel from members of the public
I am progressing with the sale of my flat and the estate agent has just telephoned to say that the purchasers are switching law firm. The excuse is that Handelsbanken will only engage with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a leading mortgage company only deal with specific law firms?
Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 25 years.
Lenders point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been tightened and a smaller panel should be easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels, or have other concerns about them. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyer’s case. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.
Can you help?. For no fault of my lawyer but, my purchase conveyancing has been going on for months. The Local Authority Search from Handelsbanken was dated random date and we have agreed a date for me to move into the property on 6 months + 3. My solicitor informs me that as she is on the Handelsbanken conveyancing panel she needs to reorder the searches as they are no longer valid.
A precondition to being on the Handelsbanken approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook Part 2 obligations (last updated for this lender on Handelsbanken)which states that a local authority search be not more than half a year old. You should nevertheless ask your lawyer to check whether something called ‘search validation’ indemnity insurance is acceptable to Handelsbanken.
I have checked your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the Handelsbanken conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the Handelsbanken 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 Handelsbanken 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 Handelsbanken solicitor panel.
Can you clarify what the consequences are if my solicitor is expelled from the Handelsbanken Solicitor panel before the completion date?
The first thing to point out is that, this is very unlikely to happen. 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 for a fee.
is it true that all conveyancing solicitors on the Handelsbanken conveyancing panel regulated by the SRA?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Handelsbanken conveyancing panel they would need to be regulated by the SRA. Many lenders do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC).
Hi, thinking about buying a house off my mate. Assuming we can agree a figure, what’s the best way to proceed? I plan to obtain a mortgage with Handelsbanken. Is there anyway to cut out the solicitors to save us both money? My father said that years ago it was possible to take the documents into the local Land Registry office and they did the rest
If you are getting a mortgage with Handelsbanken involved you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Handelsbanken conveyancing panel. We would not encourage you to both use the same solicitors' firm. There are clear conflict of interest issues and it's not going to make a huge difference to the speed of the overall process. So as not to hold things us you should pass on your solicitors details to Handelsbanken. Feel free to use our search tool to look for a licensed conveyancer or solicitor on the Handelsbanken conveyancing panel.
My ex -wife’s name is on the Handelsbanken 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 Handelsbanken mortgage in order to sell?
In terms of the Handelsbanken 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 Handelsbanken 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.
