Paratus AMC Conveyancing Panel : Questions and Answers from members of the public
For what reasons would a law firm be excluded from the Paratus AMC solicitor panel?
A survey recently commissioned by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority found that three quarters of solicitor practices had been excluded from a lender panel. The top reasons in order are :
- lack of transactions
- the lawyer is a sole practitioner
- as part of the HSBC panel reduction
- regulatory contact by SRA
- accidental removal. We are not aware of the specific or common criteria for removal by Paratus AMC
My partner and I changing mortgage lender for our penthouse with Paratus AMC. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. The solicitor on the Paratus AMC conveyancing panel has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the flat is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this form unique to the Paratus AMC conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his rights to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Paratus AMC conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing 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 Paratus AMC .This is solely used to protect the Paratus AMC 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 Paratus AMC 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.
Having used your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the Paratus AMC conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the Paratus AMC approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?
Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the Paratus AMC conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the Paratus AMC solicitor panel.
The solicitors that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Newcastle has suddenly closed. They were on acting for me because I had to have a lawyer on the Paratus AMC conveyancing panel and my preferred lawyer was not. I paid them £200 on account. What are my options?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Paratus AMC 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 solicitors may be able to assist
How can we tell if a solicitor on the Paratus AMC panel is any good?
obtaining recommendations is a sensible start. 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 suggest that you speak with the solicitor carrying out your transaction
We have a mortgage agreed in principle with Paratus AMC. Solicitors have been appointed? How long does it take for Paratus AMC to send the offer to our conveyancer
There is no definitive answer here. Have Paratus AMC conducted the survey? Have you advised Paratus AMC as your lawyers details and checked that your lawyer is on the Paratus AMC conveyancing panel? It is not unusual for a mortgage offer to take a month to come through
My ex -wife’s name is on the Paratus AMC 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 Paratus AMC mortgage in order to sell?
As regards the Paratus AMC 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 Paratus AMC 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.