Whistletree Solicitor Panel Sample Enquires to our Call Center from members of the public
My fiance and I are novices when it comes to buying a property. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to sign with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. Whistletree have this evening contacted us to advise us that they have now hit a problem as our solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. Please explain?
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 Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitors should contact Whistletree and see if they can apply for membership of the Whistletree conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Whistletree will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Whistletree conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Please assist. For no fault of my lawyer but, the conveyancing for my house purchase has been going on for months. The Local Authority Search from Whistletree was issued random date and we have agreed a date for me to move into the property on 6. My solicitor says that as she is on the Whistletree conveyancing panel she needs to redo the searches as they are now out of date.
One of the many conditions to being on the Whistletree approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook Part 2 obligations (last updated for this lender on Whistletree)which states that a local authority search be not more than 6 months old. You should nevertheless ask your lawyer to check whether something called ‘search validation’ indemnity insurance is acceptable to Whistletree.
I am searching for conveyancing quotes online. Can I be sure that all the practices that are identified on your directory are on the Whistletree conveyancing panel?
The solicitor and licensed conveyancing practices listed on our site have advised us that they are on the Whistletree panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the Whistletree panel. To date we have not been informed by either a mortgage company or a member of the public that the data about a specific firm being on the Whistletree conveyancing panel is not accurate.
I was due to complete on my first house last Friday. My solicitor is on the Whistletree solicitors panel but has changed address in the past couple of months and had not advised Whistletree of their new address. Whistletree is now refusing to release my funds as the information from the solicitors isn't correct.
This is a rare situation indeed. 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 Whistletree branch or your mortgage broker to see if they can assist.
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Whistletree as we wish to carry out a loft conversion to our home. Do we need to appoint a solicitor on the Whistletree conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Whistletree do not ordinarily instruct firms on their approved list of lawyers to deal with such a matter. If they did require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Whistletree list
I am due to exchange contracts on my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in month 8 but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s lender, Whistletree are being problematic. The solicitor who is on the Whistletree conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Whistletree are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do Whistletree have a conveyancing panel of they don’t accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Whistletree have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Whistletree may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing correctly and safely installed. It merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
I had an offer accepted on a house on the 5th February 2014, valuation was booked 3 days after, received a clean bill of health. Conveyancer retained, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Whistletree and chasing them on my offer I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Whistletree 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 Whistletree to deal with your lawyers application to be on the Whistletree conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitors will be accepted.