Frequently asked questions relating to the Swansea Building Society Conveyancing Panel from members of the public
I am selling my house and the estate agent has just called to say that the purchasers are swapping law firm. The excuse is that Swansea Building Society will only engage with solicitors on their approved list. Why would a big named lender only engage with certain law firms?
Lenders have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Lloyds Banking Group, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 25 years.
Lenders blame a rise 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 being contacted daily by practices 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.
Our lawyer has uncovered a problem with the lease for the property we are buying. The other side have offered defective title insurance as a workaround. We are happy with insurance and will cover the costs. Our solicitor says that as he is on the Swansea Building Society conveyancing panel he must be satisfied that the lender is happy with this solution. Who is the client here, us or Swansea Building Society?
The short answer to your last question is that, notwithstanding the potential for a conflict of interest, you and Swansea Building Society are the client. A precondition to being on the Swansea Building Society approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on Swansea Building Society). The CML Handbook conditions require your lawyer to disclose issues such as defects will the lease so that Swansea Building Society 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.
How do I search for a local solicitor on the Swansea Building Society conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 10 kilometers to meet the solicitor.
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 Swansea Building Society solicitor panel.
I am selling my house. Does my solicitor have to be on the Swansea Building Society conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Swansea Building Society 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.
Do conveyancing lawyers on the Swansea Building Society conveyancing panel work on a no move no charge basis?
In the main there are no requirements by lenders for their firms to operate on a no-sale-no-fee basis. There a small number of lenders who operate a very restricted conveyancing panel managed by a third party company (often termed in the industry as a ‘gatekeeper’). That third party may impose certain conditions such as non-sale-no fee on the panel firms. If you require this as a condition of your conveyancing then you should check with the conveyancing firm that this is part of their package
On the whole I have been dissatisfied with the level or service received from my lawyer. Is there a Swansea Building Society conveyancing panel complaints department or do I complain directly to the law firm?
There is little point in complaining directly to Swansea Building Society. All solicitors and conveyancer must have a complaints procedure. Usually one can find this information from the solicitor’s or conveyancer’s website or ask at their office. They must tell you about it if you ask.
The Legal Ombudsman will make sure that your complaint is addressed by the solicitor. It can also advise you how to complain.
If a licensed conveyancer does not have a complaints procedure or will not tell you about it, contact the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), which will make sure that your complaint is properly dealt with by the conveyancer. Please see below for more information.
Swansea Building Society have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on house has been accepted, now what?
The estate agent will want to know who your solicitors are (make sure these solicitors are on the lenders panel). Call up Swansea Building Society or your broker and complete any relevant paperwork. Swansea Building Society will tell you what documents they want. Swansea Building Society will instruct a valuer. The valuer will get in touch with the estate agent or seller to book an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about week to get a mortgage offer. Swansea Building Society will issue the offer to you and your lawyer. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing.