Q and A’s regarding the Intelligent Finance Conveyancing Panel from members of the public
My wife and I are first time buyers. Within the 48 hours our property lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Intelligent Finance have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender.
In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitors should contact Intelligent Finance and see if they can apply for membership of the Intelligent Finance conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Intelligent Finance will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Intelligent Finance conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Can you clarify something for me?. For no fault of my lawyer but, my purchase conveyancing has been going on for months. The Local Authority Search from Intelligent Finance was date stamped random date and we have agreed a date for me to move into the property on 6. My solicitor informs me that as she is on the Intelligent Finance conveyancing panel she needs to reorder the searches as they are now out of date.
A precondition to being on the Intelligent Finance approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook Part 2 obligations (last updated for this lender on Intelligent Finance)which specifies 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 Intelligent Finance.
Do I need to visit the offices of the Intelligent Finance conveyancing panel solicitor to execute the mortgage deed? If so, I will appoint a lawyer who conducts conveyancing in Leeds
so that I can pop in to their offices when needed.
Most conveyancing panel lawyers for Intelligent Finance undertake all of the work via the post, internet or over the phone. This means that they can undertake your Conveyancing Transaction no matter where you live in England or Wales. However you should check if you can still book an appointment to go into appointed conveyancing lawyer if you prefer.
I am trying to get my former partner taken off the mortgage deeds. Can Intelligent Finance really insist on which solicitor I can or can not retain?
You can use any solicitor you like but Intelligent Finance then has the right to appoint a different solicitor to act for them at your expense. It might be more cost effective and quicker to instruct a lawyer who is on the Intelligent Finance solicitors panel
My brother and I have had an offer accepted on a apartment I spoke to a conveyancer recommended by my mum and he recommended retaining a solicitor approved by Intelligent Finance. The estate agent recommended two local firms so I asked Intelligent Finance if the 2 suggested solicitors are approved, which they are not. Intelligent Finance pointed out that either firm can fill out the appropriate forms to become approved. Do I (1) save myself the aggravation and use one of Intelligent Finance 's conveyancing panel solicitors (2) Use the local solicitor and accept there may be delays etc as they go through the approval process.
Enquire of Intelligent Finance to suggest a law firm in your location. Most banks have lawyers on their panel throughout the UK. You can also use our search tool at the top of this page to search for a lawyer on the Intelligent Finance conveyancing panel based on location. If you particularly like the sound of one of the local lawyers that you have spoken to ask them if they would go onto Intelligent Finance conveyancing panel as it may only take about 2-3 weeks. As long as they meet Intelligent Finance’s requirements it can be a very simple job for the solicitor. Other stuff will be going on in parallel (as you are at an early stage) so it may not delay matters.
I have a mortgage with Intelligent Finance. Conveyancing was finalised a year ago. Should I wish 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 Intelligent Finance?
Intelligent Finance must be informed of your intention before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Intelligent Finance’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Intelligent Finance 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 Intelligent Finance directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a Intelligent Finance conveyancing panel lawyer.
I had an offer accepted on an apartment on the 12th February 2014, valuation was booked 4 days after, received a clean bill of health. Conveyancer retained, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Intelligent Finance and chasing them on my offer I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Intelligent Finance conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
A lender would not issue an offer until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Intelligent Finance to deal with your lawyers application to be on the Intelligent Finance conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitors will be accepted.