Nottingham Building Society Solicitor Panel Recently Asked Questions from members of the public
My fiance and I are first time buyers. Within the 48 hours our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to sign with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Nottingham Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. Please explain?
If you are buying a property with the assistance 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 property lawyers should contact Nottingham Building Society and see if they can apply for membership of the Nottingham Building Society conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Nottingham Building Society will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the Nottingham Building Society conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
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 Nottingham Building Society. Apparently, being on the Nottingham Building Society conveyancing panel and acting on their behalf he must inform Nottingham Building Society 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 mortgage so is it really necessary for this now to be an issue?
Your lawyer is obliged to check with Nottingham 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 Nottingham Building Society if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
How up to date is your database of lawyers on the Nottingham Building Society conveyancing panel? Do Nottingham Building Society send you an updated list?
The law firm practices themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Nottingham Building Society conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Nottingham Building Society directly.
I was due to move into my flat last Thursday. My solicitor is on the Nottingham Building Society solicitors panel but has changed address in the past couple of months and had not informed Nottingham Building Society of their new address. Nottingham Building Society has locked down the release of mortgage funds until such time as their systems are up to date with the correct details.
This is as unusual as it is unlucky. Most lender Terms of Conveyancing Panel Appointment specifically oblige the solicitor to inform the lender of an address change. Your solicitor needs to treat this with the utmost urgency. Do speak with or register your concern with the senior partner (assuming he or she is not your direct lawyer). Most lenders would be reasonable in this situation and expedite the resolution of this issue. It may be prudent to enlist the help of your local Nottingham Building Society branch or your mortgage broker to see if they can assist.
Do conveyancing solicitors on the Nottingham Building Society conveyancing panel work on a no move no charge basis?
There is generally no requirements by lenders for their firms to operate on a no-sale-no-fee basis. There a small number of lenders who operate a very restricted conveyancing panel managed by a third party company (often termed in the industry as a ‘gatekeeper’). That third party may impose certain conditions such as non-sale-no fee on the panel firms. If you require this as a condition of your conveyancing then you should check with the conveyancing firm that this is part of their service
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 Nottingham Building Society conveyancing panel requirements are different to Nottingham Building Society’s conveyancing panel requirements.
I currently have a mortgage with with Nottingham Building Society. Conveyancing has been completed some time ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a buy-to-let mortgage or inform Nottingham Building Society?
You must advise Nottingham Building Society in advance of renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of Nottingham Building Society’s mortgage conditions. In many cases banks or building societies 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 Nottingham Building Society directly. You need not do this via a Nottingham Building Society conveyancing panel lawyer.