Examples of recent questions relating to the Leeds Building Society Solicitor Panel from members of the public
My wife and I are novices when it comes to buying a property. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Leeds Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our conveyancer 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 Quality Scheme. Your solicitors should contact Leeds Building Society and see if they can apply for membership of the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Leeds Building Society will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We are approaching an exchange and my parents having transferred the 10% deposit to my lawyer. I am now advised that as the deposit has not come from me my lawyer needs to disclose this to my lender Leeds Building Society. I am advised that, being on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel and acting on their behalf he must inform Leeds Building Society if the balance of the mortgage advance is not just from me. I advised the bank about my parent’s contribution when I applied for the mortgage so is it really necessary for him to raise this?
Your lawyer is obliged to check with Leeds Building Society to make sure that they are aware that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. Your solicitor can only report this to Leeds Building Society if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
I need to find a Leeds Building Society panel solicitor in Stirling. Can you assist?
It is not clear why you need a Leeds Building Society panel solicitor but in any event, if you can not find one on our search tool you will need to speak directly to Leeds Building Society to find out which solicitors in Leeds Building Society are on their panel. If you do find such a firm not listed please direct them to our site to list. At a fee of one pound per month it is not expensive to register on the site
I am trying to get my former partner taken off the mortgage deeds. Can Leeds Building Society really tell me which solicitor I can or can not retain?
You can use any solicitor you like but Leeds Building Society 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 Leeds Building Society solicitors panel
Is the case that all CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors on the Leeds Building Society conveyancing panel?
A selection of banks and building societies now use the accreditation scheme as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to remain on their approved list of firms.
I have today made my last payment due on mortgage with Leeds Building Society. I assume I don't need a solicitor on the Leeds Building Society panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Please confirm
If you have finished paying off your Leeds Building Society mortgage they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the Leeds Building Society mortgage from the register. Leeds Building Society,and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
but are not moving to another property
where the Leeds Building Society has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
the Leeds Building Society has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The Land Registry will send you a letter confirming that your Leeds Building Society mortgage has been paid off.
At last I have had an offer on an apartment accepted, but there is a chain. 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? At what point should I appy for the mortgage with Leeds Building Society?
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 Leeds Building Society 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 Leeds Building Society and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.