West Bromwich Mortgage Company Conveyancing Panel : Questions and Answers from members of the public
My wife and I are FTBs. Within the 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. West Bromwich Mortgage Company have this morning contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our conveyancer is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender.
In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. Your property lawyers should contact West Bromwich Mortgage Company and see if they can apply for membership of the West Bromwich Mortgage Company conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable West Bromwich Mortgage Company will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the West Bromwich Mortgage Company conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
We are due to exchange on the purchase a house but as a result of damage from the recent storms I have agreed compensation from the seller of £3k approx by way of a reduction in the price. This was going to be dealt with as part of the conveyancing process but my mortgage company West Bromwich Mortgage Company will not agree to this. Why was West Bromwich Mortgage Company even consulted?
Your lawyer being on the West Bromwich Mortgage Company conveyancing panel is duty bound to inform West Bromwich Mortgage Company of any changes to the purchase price. If you were to refuse your lawyers to disclose the reduction to West Bromwich Mortgage Company then they would have to discontinue acting for you and West Bromwich Mortgage Company.
I have checked your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the West Bromwich Mortgage Company conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the West Bromwich Mortgage Company approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?
Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the West Bromwich Mortgage Company conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the West Bromwich Mortgage Company solicitor panel.
My lawyers in Liverpool have advised me that they can not locate my conveyancing file. At the time of my purchase I took out a mortgage with West Bromwich Mortgage Company. Is it case that being on the West Bromwich Mortgage Company conveyancing panel they need to have retained the file for a prescribed period?
It very much depends from lender to lender but many of the Terms and Conditions of Conveyancing Panel Appointment require the file to be held for a period of 6 years. That being said we have not seen a copy of the West Bromwich Mortgage Company Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting West Bromwich Mortgage Company directly.
Do conveyancing solicitors on the West Bromwich Mortgage Company conveyancing panel work on a no sale no fee 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
Do the majority of lenders operate their own panel of solicitors?
Many lenders do operate a restricted conveyancing panel but a lot of lenders allow any solicitors to join their panel so long as they meet their criteria. Each lender sets their own criteria. For example the West Bromwich Mortgage Company conveyancing panel requirements are different to West Bromwich Mortgage Company’s conveyancing panel criteria.
I have paid off my mortgage with West Bromwich Mortgage Company. I assume I don't need a solicitor on the West Bromwich Mortgage Company panel to remove the mortgage at the Land Registry. Am I right?
If you have finished paying off your West Bromwich Mortgage Company 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 West Bromwich Mortgage Company mortgage from the register. West Bromwich Mortgage Company,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 West Bromwich Mortgage Company has sent the Land Registry the discharge electronically, and
the West Bromwich Mortgage Company has instructed the Land Registry to do so
The Land Registry will send you a letter confirming that your West Bromwich Mortgage Company mortgage has been paid off.
