Scottish Building Society Conveyancing Panel : Questions and Answers from members of the public
I am in the process of selling my house and the EA has just called to advise that the purchasers are appointing a new conveyancer. I am told that this is due to the fact that Scottish Building Society will only deal with solicitors on their conveyancing panel. Why would a leading lender only deal with specific law firms?
Mortgage companies have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for decades.
Banks point to the increase in fraud by way of justification for the cull – criteria have been tightened and a smaller panel should be easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is hearing daily from firms that have been removed from panels, or have other concerns about them. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyer’s case. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.
My son is in the process of securing a house that has just been built with a mortgage from Scottish Building Society. His solicitor has said that there is a delay in completing the ‘Disclosure of Incentive Form’. Who needs to receive the form?
The form is intended to provide information to the main parties involved in the transaction. Therefore, it will be provided to your son’s lawyer who should be on the Scottish Building Society conveyancing panel as a standard part of the process, and to the surveyor when requested.
The Developer will be required to start the process by downloading the form and completing it.
The form will therefore need to be available for the valuer at the time of his or her site visit. The form should be sent to the Scottish Building Society conveyancing panel solicitor as early as possible, in order to avoid any last minute delays, and no later than at exchange of contracts.
I am looking for competitive conveyancing fees. Can I be sure that all the firms that are identified on your site are on the Scottish Building Society conveyancing panel?
The law firms listed on our site have advised us that they are on the Scottish Building Society panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the Scottish Building Society panel. To date we have not been informed by either a lender or a member of the public that the data about a specific firm being on the Scottish Building Society conveyancing panel is incorrect.
The solicitors that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Hendon has without warning closed. I only went with them because I had to have a firm on the Scottish Building Society conveyancing panel and my previous lawyer was not. I paid them £200 on account. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will 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 Scottish Building Society 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 lawyers should be in a position to help
is it true that all solicitor practices on the Scottish Building Society conveyancing panel regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the Scottish Building Society conveyancing panel they would need to be regulated by the SRA. Many lenders do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC).
I am buying a property where the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Scottish Building Society be concerned
As you are obtaining a mortgage with Scottish Building Society your lawyer must to check the Scottish Building Society conveyancing instructions contained in the Part of CML Handbook for Scottish Building Society . The CML Handbook contains minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to Scottish Building Society where a lease does not meet these requirements. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales. The CML are developing guidance for Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Is it common for Scottish Building Society to withdraw a mortgage offer and what would be the reasoning?
Lenders such as Scottish Building Society can withdraw their mortgage offer although this rarely happens. In the unlikely event that Scottish Building Society withdraw their offer they may or may not inform you or the lawyer as to their reasoning. There are many potential reasons but here are a number of examples:
- Scottish Building Society may amend or withdraw an offer if the Scottish Building Society conveyancing panel solicitor is unable to confirm compliance with any of the conditions of the mortgage offer or if any of the terms of the mortgage offer cannot be satisfied
- Many mortgage offers have an expiry date. Your lawyer should check this. Scottish Building Society may amend or withdraw an offer before the end of its validation period if an offer extension is requested and following a re-evaluation of the property the value of the security is below a level which is acceptable to them.
- Situations where information provided by the borrower that enabled the lender to make a lending decision is fraudulent, incorrect or misleading.
- Where the lender is on notice of a restriction or a right of pre-emption which is not at market value
- If the lender reasonably suspects that the applicant, borrower, mortgagor or guarantor is involved in any criminal or fraudulent activity, including trading in illegal drugs or other substances, theft, robbery, deception or other serious offences, or if the applicant borrower, mortgagor or guarantor has a conviction for any serious criminal offence, including theft, deception, fraud, robbery or trade in illegal drugs or other substances;