Common questions asked concerning the Virgin Solicitor Panel from members of the public
Is the fact that my solicitor is not identified on the Virgin Solicitor panel that there is a problem with the standard of her conveyancing?
That would more than likely be a wrong assumption to make. There are all sorts of perfectly reasonable explanations. A recent report by the solicitors regulator indicated 76% of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The most common reasons for removal are: (1) lack of transactions (2) the lawyer is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. If you are concerned you should simply call the firm and ask them why they are no longer on the approved list for Virgin.
My fiance and I are refinancing our maisonette with Virgin. We have a son 19 who lives with us. The solicitor on the Virgin conveyancing panel has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who reside at the property. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, waiving any legal rights in the event that the property is forfeited by the lender. I have two questions (1) Is this document specific to the Virgin conveyancing panel as he did not need to sign this form when we purchased 5 years ago (2) In signing this form is our son in any way compromising his right to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Virgin conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing 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 Virgin .This is solely used to protect the Virgin 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 Virgin 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.
I have been looking for online conveyancing estimates. Can I be assured that all the firms that are identified on your site are on the Virgin conveyancing panel?
The law firms on our directory have assured us via an online form that they are on the Virgin panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the Virgin 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 Virgin conveyancing panel is incorrect.
I am selling my house. Does my solicitor have to be on the Virgin conveyancing panel in order to deal with paying off my mortgage?
Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Virgin 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.
Is it common for Virgin to withdraw a mortgage offer and what would be the reasoning?
Banks and Building Societies such as Virgin can revoke their mortgage offer although this is unusual. should Virgin 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:
- Many mortgage offers have an expiry date. Your lawyer should check this. Virgin 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.
- Where to proceed with the Mortgage offer would be unlawful
- Following advice from the valuer on their lender panel or If the lender has doubts about the effectiveness of the valuation as a result of subsequent events or information received post valuation but pre completion
- Where the Lender’s right to possession is fettered in some way
- 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;
I have today made my last payment due on mortgage with Virgin. I assume I don't need a solicitor on the Virgin panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your Virgin 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 Virgin mortgage from the register. Virgin,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 Virgin has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
the Virgin has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The Land Registry will send you a letter confirming that your Virgin mortgage has been paid off.
I was told two weeks ago that my mortgage has been agreed
to by Virgin. Is it usual for Virgin to only issue the offer once my
solicitor is approved on their conveyancing panel?
A lender would not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Virgin to deal with your lawyers application to be on the Virgin conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitors will be accepted.
