Q and A’s regarding the The Mortgage Lender Conveyancing Panel from members of the public
I am hoping to receive a mortgage with The Mortgage Lender. my intention is to instruct a Licensed Conveyancer. Does the The Mortgage Lender Solicitor panel allow for conveyancers regulated by the CLC
The Mortgage Lender’s approved solicitor list is, like many other lenders represented by the CML or Building Society Association, open to Licensed Conveyancers regulated by the CLC.
Much to my surprise my property lawyer has informed me that he requires ID documents stating that this forms part of his legal duty as a solicitor on the The Mortgage Lender Solicitor panel. This is news to me - can I refuse?
Due to Money Laundering Regulations your conveyancing lawyer is duty bound to confirm positively your identification when entering into a business relationship with you. It is a criminal offense if your lawyer not do this. If you do not provide ID early in the transaction the solicitor must refuse to act for you. It’s unlikely a lawyer will turn you away if you come to the first meeting without relevant ID but you will have to produce it at some point so you might as well bring it with you to the initial meeting so the lawyer can tick the ID verification box and start sorting out the conveyancing straight away. If you are getting a mortgage with The Mortgage Lender your lawyer also has to check ID documents to satisfy The Mortgage Lender
Do I need to pop into the offices of the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel solicitor to execute the legal charge? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in Bristol
so that I can pop in to their offices if necessary.
Most conveyancing panel lawyers for The Mortgage Lender undertake all of the work via the post, internet or over the phone. This means that they can undertake your Conveyancing Transaction no matter where you live in England or Wales. However you should check if you can still book an appointment to go into appointed conveyancing lawyer if you prefer.
The solicitors that just started acting on my house acquisition in Hendon has suddenly shut down. They were on acting for me because I needed a lawyer on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel and my previous lawyer was not. I gave them a cheque for £150 in advance. What should be my next steps?
If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will 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 The Mortgage Lender 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 assist
Is it the case that all conveyancing solicitors on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel work on a no sale no fee basis?
On the whole 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 service
I was thinking of purchasing my friend’s property. Once we agree a price, what’s the best way to proceed? I plan to obtain a mortgage with The Mortgage Lender. Is there anyway to cut out the solicitors to save us both money? My father said that years ago it was possible to take the documents into the local Land Registry office and they did the rest
If you are getting a mortgage with The Mortgage Lender involved you will need to appoint a solicitor on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel. We would not encourage you to both use the same solicitors' firm. There are clear conflict of interest issues and it's not going to make a huge difference to the speed of the overall process. So as not to hold things us you should pass on your solicitors details to The Mortgage Lender. Feel free to use our search tool to look for a licensed conveyancer or solicitor on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel.
We were going to get a DIP from The Mortgage Lender this week so we know how much we could potentially offer as otherwise we are dependent on web based calculators (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc).Do the The Mortgage Lender recommend a solicitor on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel, or is it better to go independently
You will need to appoint solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and the The Mortgage Lender through the process.