Keystone Property Finance Conveyancing Panel : Questions and Answers from members of the public
Is the fact that my solicitor is not identified on the Keystone Property Finance Solicitor panel that there is a problem with the standard of her conveyancing?
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 Keystone Property Finance.
Can you clarify something for me?. For no fault of my lawyer but, the conveyancing for my house purchase has been going on for months. The Local Authority Search from Keystone Property Finance was issued random date and we have agreed a date for me to move into the property on 10 days inc Day of week eg. Mon. My lawyer has advised that as she is on the Keystone Property Finance conveyancing panel she needs to redo the searches as they are no longer acceptable to the lender.
A precondition to being on the Keystone Property Finance approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook Part 2 obligations (last updated for this lender on Keystone Property Finance)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 Keystone Property Finance.
Are the lawyers identified as being on the Keystone Property Finance conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Keystone Property Finance?
The law firm practices themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Keystone Property Finance conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Keystone Property Finance directly.
The lawyers that I appointed last week on my purchase in Hendon has without warning shut down. I chose them because I had to have a lawyer on the Keystone Property Finance conveyancing panel and my family lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £175 for searches. What are my options?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then inform them immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Keystone Property Finance conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new lawyers should be in a position to assist
How can we tell if a solicitor on the Keystone Property Finance panel is any good?
seeking recommendations is a good starting point. Before you go ahead check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always advocate that you speak with the lawyer conducting your conveyancing
The for formalities of my remortgage has taken place with a mortgage from Keystone Property Finance. Conveyancing was of an acceptable standard but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about Keystone Property Finance. How does one go about formally complaining?
Almost all banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the Keystone Property Finance branches or the Customer Care Department at Keystone Property Finance head office. We understand that complaints to Keystone Property Finance are resolved very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is resolved you can write to the
Financial Ombudsman Service who will take matters further.
At last I have had an offer on an apartment 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 Keystone Property Finance?
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 Keystone Property Finance 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 Keystone Property Finance and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.