Q and A’s regarding the Harpenden Building Society Conveyancing Panel from members of the public
I am getting a offer of a mortgage from Harpenden Building Society. my intention is to enlist the help of a Licensed Conveyancer. Does the Harpenden Building Society Solicitor panel exclude Licensed Conveyancers
Harpenden Building Society’s conveyancing panel is, like many other lenders represented by the CML or Building Society Association, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
My lawyer has informed me that he requires identification documents saying that this forms part of his legal duty as a solicitor on the Harpenden Building Society Conveyancing panel. Am I being spun a yarn?
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 Harpenden Building Society your lawyer also has to check ID documents to satisfy Harpenden Building Society
Do lenders provide you with an approved list of solicitors? How do you know who is on the Harpenden Building Society conveyancing panel?
The firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Harpenden Building Society conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Harpenden Building Society directly.
We're in London, FTBs buying with a mortgage (lender is Harpenden Building Society , but our solicitor is on the Harpenden Building Society conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Harpenden Building Society conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancer should guarantee a time-frame for your conveyancing due to third parties outside of our control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain
Hi, thinking about buying a house off my mate. Assuming we can agree a figure, what’s the best way to move forward? I plan to obtain a mortgage with Harpenden Building Society. Is it possible to avoid using solicitors to save us both money? My dad reckons back in the day he did a lot of it himself, just went into the land registry office and providing them with the info they needed himself
If you are getting a mortgage with Harpenden Building Society involved you will need to appoint a solicitor on the Harpenden Building Society 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 Harpenden Building Society. Feel free to use our search tool to look for a licensed conveyancer or solicitor on the Harpenden Building Society conveyancing panel.
I have not been happy with the level or service received from my lawyer. Is there a Harpenden Building Society conveyancing panel complaints department or do I complain directly to the law firm?
There is little point in complaining directly to Harpenden Building Society. All solicitors 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 addressed 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.
My offer on house has been accepted, the seller does however have a dependent purchase. 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 do I do now? When should I get the mortgage app going with Harpenden 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 Harpenden 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 Harpenden Building Society and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.