Q and A’s regarding the State Bank of India UK Conveyancing Panel from members of the public
For what reasons could a law firm be removed from the State Bank of India UK approved conveyancing 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 :
- Low volume 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 State Bank of India UK
My conveyancer has discovered an inconsistency when comparing the assumptions in State Bank of India UK’s valuation report and what is in the legal papers for the property. My solicitor has advised that as he is on the State Bank of India UK conveyancing panel he is duty bound to check that the bank is happy with this discrepancy and is still content to lend. Is my lawyer’s stance right?
A precondition to being on the State Bank of India UK approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on State Bank of India UK) which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for both parties.
Do I need to attend the offices of the State Bank of India UK conveyancing panel solicitor to sign the legal charge? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in Liverpool
so that I can pop in to their offices if required.
As opposed to twenty years ago, most lenders no longer require their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the borrowers signature. You will still be obliged to provide ID Documents and there are still distinct advantages to using a local solicitor, in your case a conveyancing solicitor in Liverpool
.
The solicitors that I appointed last week on my purchase in Manchester has without warning closed. I chose them because I had to have a solicitor on the State Bank of India UK conveyancing panel and my previous lawyer was not. I gave my credit card details for them to take £175 for searches. What do I do now?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the State Bank of India UK 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 should be in a position to assist
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from State Bank of India UK as we wish to carry out a loft conversion to our home. Do we need to appoint a solicitor on the State Bank of India UK conveyancing panel to deal with the legals?
State Bank of India UK would not normally appoint a member of 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 State Bank of India UK list
My offer was accepted on an apartment on the 20th January 2014, valuation was booked 3 days after, all came back fine. Property lawyer instructed, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to State Bank of India UK and chasing them on my offer I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the State Bank of India UK conveyancing panel. Can the lender hold off the offer?
A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for State Bank of India UK to deal with your lawyers application to be on the State Bank of India UK conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitors will be accepted.
My ex -wife’s name is on the State Bank of India UK 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 State Bank of India UK mortgage in order to sell?
In terms of the State Bank of India UK 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 State Bank of India UK 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.