HSBC Solicitor Panel Sample Enquires to our Call Center from members of the public
The lawyer my fiance and I wanted to use for conveyancing on a purchase said he will levy higher legal fees if my mortgage is with HSBC because of their difficult processes! Am I likely to be frustrated using HSBC? Any comments will be appreciated
HSBC conveyancing requirements for their panel are no better or no more complicated than most lenders.
It is the case now the CML Handbook, the "bible" used by solicitors to establish lender requirements, is different for each lender.
It is not clear if your lawyer is on the HSBC conveyancing panel. If they are not, this does add further risk of delay as HSBC will appoint their own solicitors to look after their interest.
My husband and I changing mortgage lender for our penthouse with HSBC. We have a son 18 who lives with us. The solicitor on the HSBC conveyancing panel has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this document specific to the HSBC conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his rights to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your HSBC conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to HSBC .This is solely used to protect the HSBC if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave.
It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of HSBC had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
I have checked your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the HSBC conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the HSBC 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 HSBC 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 HSBC solicitor panel.
My lawyers in Liverpool have advised me that they can not locate my conveyancing file. At the time of my purchase I took out a mortgage with HSBC. Is it case that being on the HSBC conveyancing panel they need to have retained the file for a prescribed period?
It very much depends from lender to lender 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 HSBC Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting HSBC directly.
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from HSBC as we wish to carry out alterations or improvements our home. Do we need to appoint a solicitor on the HSBC conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
HSBC do not ordinarily appoint firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with such a matter. If they did require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the HSBC panel
I currently have a mortgage with with HSBC. Conveyancing has been completed a year ago. If I am intending to rent out my property and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform HSBC?
HSBC must be informed of your intention prior to letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of HSBC’s mortgage conditions. It may be that HSBC will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact HSBC directly. You need not do this via a HSBC conveyancing panel firm.
After shopping around on the internet I have found a solicitor having made sure that they are on the HSBC conveyancing panel. Does my lawyer arrange the survey of the property?
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Having digested plenty of mortgage guides,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 HSBC conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. Is that normal?
HSBC will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually HSBC 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 HSBC you could contact your them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors.