Frequently asked questions relating to the Landbay Partners Solicitor Panel from members of the public
On what basis would a firm of solicitors be excluded from the Landbay Partners approved conveyancing panel?
A survey recently commissioned by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority found that three quarters of law firms had been removed from a lender panel. The most common reasons in order are :
- Low volume of transactions
- the lawyer is a sole practitioner
- as part of the HSBC panel reduction
- regulatory contact by SRA
- accidental removal. We are not aware of the specific or common criteria for removal by Landbay Partners
Please assist. My lawyer is not to blame but, the conveyancing for my house purchase has been going on for months. The Local Authority Search from Landbay Partners 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 solicitor informs me that as she is on the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel she needs to reorder the searches as they are now out of date.
One of the many conditions to being on the Landbay Partners approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook Part 2 obligations (last updated for this lender on Landbay Partners)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 Landbay Partners.
I have been Googling for online conveyancing estimates. Can I be assured that all the practices that are listed on your site are on the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel?
The solicitor and licensed conveyancing practices 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.
I am selling my house. Does my solicitor have to be on the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. it might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their requirements fairly frequently at the moment.
How can we tell if a solicitor on the Landbay Partners panel is any good?
Getting recommendations is a sensible 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 advise that you speak with the solicitor handling your transaction
I currently have a mortgage with with Landbay Partners. Conveyancing was finalised 12 months 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 buy-to-let mortgage or inform Landbay Partners?
Your original mortgage agreement with Landbay Partners will provide that you need their approval before letting out your property as this is likely to be a breach of Landbay Partners’s mortgage conditions. It may be that Landbay Partners will permit you to let 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 Landbay Partners directly. You need not do this via a Landbay Partners conveyancing panel solicitor.
My ex -wife’s name is on the Landbay Partners mortgage of my property but not on the land registry. The apartment was transferred to me on our divorce many years ago by way of a sealed court order. Does my ex still have a say on the sale even though the land registry showing the property in my name alone? Will I be required to take her name of the Landbay Partners mortgage in order to sell?
As regards the Landbay Partners mortgage, it is unusual that your ex-wife’s name remains on the mortgage but not on the title. It is conceivable that this is an oversight on the part of your conveyancers to ensure that her name was removed or even an administrative error on the part of Landbay Partners in failing to update their data. In any event, it should cause difficulty providing her name no longer appears on the Land Registry title and you have a court order ordering that the property is transferred to you.