Landbay Partners Solicitor Panel Sample Enquires to our Call Center from members of the public
My husband and I are hoping to buy a 2 bedroom apartment in Newcastle with a mortgage from Landbay Partners. We would like to retain our solicitor but Landbay Partners says she’s not on their "panel". We have to appoint one of the Landbay Partners panel solicitors or keep our solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that Landbay Partners use our lawyer?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. A further alternative is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Landbay Partners
My husband and I are refinancing our maisonette with Landbay Partners. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. The solicitor on the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel has asked us to disclose anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have two concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his rights to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong 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 Landbay Partners .This is solely used to protect the Landbay Partners 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 Landbay Partners 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 am searching for online conveyancing estimates. Can I be confident that all the law firms that are identified on your website are on the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel?
The law firms on our directory have advised us that they are on the Landbay Partners panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the Landbay Partners panel. To date we have not been informed by either a lender or a member of the public that the data about a specific firm being on the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel is not accurate.
The solicitors that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Brighton has suddenly shut down. They were on acting for me because I needed a lawyer on the Landbay Partners 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 straight away so that they advise the vendors 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 should appoint new lawyers that are on the Landbay Partners 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 may be able to assist
Do the majority of lenders operate their own panel of solicitors?
Many lenders do operate a restricted conveyancing panel but a lot of lenders allow any solicitors to join their panel so long as they meet their criteria. Each lender sets their own criteria. For example the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel requirements are different to Landbay Partners’s conveyancing panel requirements.
Completion of my purchase has taken place with a loan from Landbay Partners. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I would like to complain about Landbay Partners. How does one go about formally complaining?
Most banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the Landbay Partners branches or the Customer Services Team at Landbay Partners head office. We understand that complaints to Landbay Partners are sorted out very quickly. However if you are not satisfied that the matter is resolved you can write to the
Financial Ombudsman Service at South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.
Landbay Partners have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on house has been accepted, now what?
The estate agent will want to know who your solicitors are (make sure these solicitors are on the lenders panel). Call up Landbay Partners or your broker and complete any relevant paperwork. Landbay Partners will tell you what documents they want. Landbay Partners will instruct a valuer. The valuer will get in touch with the estate agent or seller to book an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about week to get a mortgage offer. Landbay Partners will issue the offer to you and your lawyer. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing.