Q and A’s regarding the The Mortgage Lender Solicitor Panel from members of the public
I am in the process of selling my apartment and the EA has just e-mailed to advise that the buyers are swapping law firm. The reason given is that The Mortgage Lender will only deal with solicitors on their approved list. On what basis would a big named mortgage company only deal with certain lawyers?
Banks 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 decades.
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 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 wife and I changing mortgage lender for our maisonette with The Mortgage Lender. We have a son approaching twenty who lives with us. The solicitor on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 other than ourselves who reside at the property. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the apartment is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we bought 3 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
On the face of it your lawyer has done nothing wrong 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 The Mortgage Lender .This is solely used to protect the The Mortgage Lender 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 The Mortgage Lender 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.
Is it necessary during the course of the conveyancing process to pop into the offices of the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel solicitor to sign the mortgage deed? If so, I will appoint a lawyer who conducts conveyancing in Newcastle
so that I can pop in to their offices if required.
Whereas this was necessary 12 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 Newcastle
.
I was expecting to move into my dream home yesterday. My lawyer’s firm is on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel but has moved offices in the past couple of months and had not informed The Mortgage Lender of their new address. The Mortgage Lender has locked down the release of mortgage funds as the information from the solicitors isn't correct.
This is as unusual as it is unlucky. The majority of lender Terms of Conveyancing Panel Appointment specifically oblige the solicitor to inform the lender of an address change. Your solicitor needs to treat this with the utmost urgency. Do speak with or register your concern with the senior partner (assuming he or she is not your direct lawyer). Most lenders would be reasonable in this situation and expedite the resolution of this issue. It may be prudent to enlist the help of your local The Mortgage Lender branch or your mortgage broker to see if they can help.
I have paid off my mortgage with The Mortgage Lender. I assume I don't need a solicitor on the The Mortgage Lender panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your The Mortgage Lender mortgage they may send you evidence showing that you have paid it off. Alternatively they may notify the Land Registry directly. The Land Registry need to see this evidence before they will remove the The Mortgage Lender mortgage from the register. The Mortgage Lender,and any evidence they send you, will determine the action you need to take. In cases where no conveyancer is acting for you and you have paid off your mortgage:
but are not moving to another property
where the The Mortgage Lender has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
the The Mortgage Lender has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The Land Registry will send you a letter confirming that your The Mortgage Lender mortgage has been paid off.
I had an offer accepted on a house on the 12th February 2014, valuation was booked 2 days after, all came back fine. Property lawyer retained, so all that was missing was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to The Mortgage Lender and chasing them on my offer I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the The Mortgage Lender 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 The Mortgage Lender to deal with your lawyers application to be on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitors will be accepted.
Next month my fiance and I are buying a terraced house in Hendon. Conveyancing solicitors in Hendon will soon beinstructed. My agentrecommended that we double-check that the conveyancing practitioner in Hendon is on the The Mortgage Lender list of approved conveyancing firms. Surely I don't need to do this, do I?
A limited percentage of Hendon conveyancing firms are on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel. Use the above search tool to search for a Hendon conveyancing firm on the on the The Mortgage Lender list of approved conveyancing firms.
