Examples of recent questions relating to the Landmark Mortgages Solicitor Panel from members of the public
My lawyer is not on the Landmark Mortgages Solicitor Panel. Is it possible for me to continue with my family solicitor even though they are excluded from the Landmark Mortgages panel?
The most common options here are as follows:
- Carry on with your existing solicitors but Landmark Mortgages will need to instruct a lawyer on the Landmark Mortgages conveyancing panel. This will result in additional cost and potential delay.
- Get a new solicitor to act in the purchase, obviously checking they are on the Landmark Mortgages conveyancing panel.
- Convince your lawyer to do everything within their powers to join the Landmark Mortgages conveyancing panel
My fiance and I changing mortgage lender for our maisonette with Landmark Mortgages. We have a son 19 who lives with us. The solicitor on the Landmark Mortgages conveyancing panel requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have a couple of questions (1) Is this document specific to the Landmark Mortgages conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we purchased 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right 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 Landmark Mortgages .This is solely used to protect the Landmark Mortgages 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 Landmark Mortgages 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.
Are the lawyers identified as being on the Landmark Mortgages conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Landmark Mortgages?
The law firm practices themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Landmark Mortgages conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Landmark Mortgages directly.
I am selling my house. Does my solicitor have to be on the Landmark Mortgages conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Landmark Mortgages 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.
Can I be sure that the solicitor on the Landmark Mortgages panel is any good?
seeking 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 lawyer conducting your conveyancing
The for formalities of my purchase has taken place with a loan from Landmark Mortgages. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about Landmark Mortgages. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
All banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the Landmark Mortgages branches or the Customer Services Team at Landmark Mortgages head office. Ordinarily complaints to Landmark Mortgages are sorted out effectively and efficiently. If you feel that the matter is not resolved you can write to the
Financial Ombudsman Service at South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR with full details of your complaint.
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 Landmark Mortgages?
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 Landmark Mortgages 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 Landmark Mortgages and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they pay their solicitor to press on with searches.