Frequently asked questions relating to the M&S Bank Solicitor Panel from members of the public
I am obtaining a mortgage with M&S Bank. my intention is to employ the services of a Licensed Conveyancer. Does the M&S Bank Solicitor panel allow for Licensed Conveyancers
M&S Bank’s conveyancing panel is, like many other lenders associated to the Council or Mortgage Lenders or BSA, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
We are nearing 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 M&S Bank. Apparently, being on the M&S Bank conveyancing panel and acting on their behalf he must inform M&S Bank if the balance of the mortgage advance is not just from me. I informed the bank about my parent’s contribution when I applied for the home loan so is it really necessary for him to raise this?
Your lawyer is obliged to check with M&S Bank 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 M&S Bank if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
How up to date is your search tool for the M&S Bank conveyancing panel? Do M&S Bank send you an updated list?
The firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the M&S Bank conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from M&S Bank directly.
The lawyers that I recently instructed on my purchase in Brighton has without warning closed. I chose them because I had to have a solicitor on the M&S Bank conveyancing panel and my previous 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 let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. 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 M&S Bank 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
I have today made my last payment due on mortgage with M&S Bank. I assume I don't need a solicitor on the M&S Bank panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your M&S Bank 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 M&S Bank mortgage from the register. M&S Bank,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 M&S Bank has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
the M&S Bank has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The Land Registry will send you a letter confirming that your M&S Bank mortgage has been paid off.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house. My mortgage broker suggested a solicitor I paid an upfront payment of 175. Soon after the conveyancers contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the M&S Bank conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the M&S Bank panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
My ex -wife’s name is on the M&S Bank 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 M&S Bank mortgage in order to sell?
In terms of the M&S Bank 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 M&S Bank 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.