Paratus AMC Solicitor Panel Sample Enquires to our Call Center from members of the public
My fiance and I are buying a 2 bedroom flat in Hackney with a mortgage from Paratus AMC. We like our solicitor but Paratus AMC says he's not on their "panel". It seems we have little choice but to instruct one of the Paratus AMC panel firms or keep our solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that Paratus AMC use our lawyer?
No, not really. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the Paratus AMC conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Paratus AMC
My wife 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 requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Paratus AMC conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we bought 4 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right 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.
My house is up for sale and I have a buyer. Does my solicitor have to be on the Paratus AMC conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Paratus AMC 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.
When it comes to lenders such as Paratus AMC do solicitors have to be pay a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are not aware of any lender fees to be on their panel although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
I had instructed online conveyancers based in Birmingham who are on the Paratus AMC solicitor panel. They are now charging me a separate fee of £195 for the legal aspects of the Paratus AMC mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee specified by Paratus AMC?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitors can charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by Paratus AMC but by your lawyers. Some firms on the Paratus AMC will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
For 5 years I had a mortgage with Paratus AMC. My uncle retired last week and wants to pay off my mortgage. After Paratus AMC is paid, I want to transfer the property to my mother's name; How long does the process take? Do we need two separate solicitors on the Paratus AMC conveyancing panel? I do not intend to live at the property once the Paratus AMC mortgage is discharged.
Although you do need to retain the services of a lawyer they dont
need to be on the Paratus AMC panel.
You will need a solicitor to draw up the transfer and
to deal with the Land Registry formalities. The only thing you need to
consider is that by selling at an undervalue so ask your lawyer about
the implications. There could be an inheritance tax issue if you die
within 7 years of this. There's no capital gains tax for you as it is
your main residence.
