Common questions asked concerning the Landmark Mortgages Solicitor Panel from members of the public
My wife and I are first time buyers. Within the 48 hours our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to sign with a detailed report with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Landmark Mortgages have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
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 Accreditation Scheme. Your property lawyers should contact Landmark Mortgages and see if they can apply for membership of the Landmark Mortgages conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Landmark Mortgages will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the Landmark Mortgages conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred lawyers, in which case it will likely add costs, and it will likely delay the transaction as you have another set of people involved.
Our conveyancer has discovered a problem with the lease for the apartment we are buying. The other side have suggested title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will pay for it. Our solicitor has advised that as he is on the Landmark Mortgages conveyancing panel he must ensure that the lender is happy with this solution. Are we the client or is Landmark Mortgages?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and Landmark Mortgages are the client. A precondition to being on the Landmark Mortgages approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on Landmark Mortgages). The CML Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects will the lease so that Landmark Mortgages can be afforded the opportunity to check with their valuer as to the extent that the value of the property is affected . Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.
What tools are available to find a local solicitor on the Landmark Mortgages conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 25 miles to meet the conveyancer.
Feel free to make use of the find a conveyancing panel tool on this website. Please choose the lender and your location and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest you. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the Landmark Mortgages solicitor panel.
I was supposed to complete on my first house last Thursday. My solicitor is on the Landmark Mortgages solicitors panel but has changed address in the past couple of months and had not advised Landmark Mortgages of their new address. Landmark Mortgages is now refusing to release my funds until such time as their systems are up to date with the correct details.
This is a rare situation indeed. The majority of 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 Landmark Mortgages branch or your mortgage broker to see if they can help.
My wife and I have arranged a further advance on our mortgage from Landmark Mortgages as we wish to carry out alterations or improvements our home. Do we need to appoint a solicitor on the Landmark Mortgages conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Landmark Mortgages do not ordinarily appoint firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with such a matter. If they did require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Landmark Mortgages panel
I'm in the throws of looking at houses and am about to put in an offer. Is it premature to have a solicitor in place? I will be getting a mortgage with Landmark Mortgages
You should start obtaining conveyancing quotes from solicitors ASAP. Once you decide who you want to use and once your offer is accepted you can instruct them to work for you and pass their details on the the EA. As you are getting a mortgage with Landmark Mortgages , make sure you remember to check that your lawyer is on the Landmark Mortgages conveyancing panel.
At last I have had an offer on an apartment accepted, the seller does however have a dependent purchase. 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 should be my next step? 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.