Whistletree Solicitor Panel Recently Asked Questions from members of the public
I have been advised by my broker that I have to pay Whistletree fees if I use my own solicitor. How good are the Whistletree conveyancing panel solicitors? I dont care which law firm I use as long as they're good and reasonably priced. Would you recommend a specific law firm on the Whistletree panel?
Whistletree’s conveyancing panel is substantial so your best bet is just to check with the firms you are getting quotes from that they are on the panel. You can search by postcode on the search tool on this site to find solicitors that Whistletree will allow to act for them.
My wife and I are refinancing our apartment with Whistletree. We have a son 19 who lives with us. The solicitor on the Whistletree conveyancing panel has asked us to disclose any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. The solicitor has now sent a form for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this document specific to the Whistletree conveyancing panel as he never had 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?
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 Whistletree .This is solely used to protect the Whistletree 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 Whistletree 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.
Are the lawyers identified as being on the Whistletree conveyancing panel, together with their details provided by Whistletree?
The firms themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Whistletree conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Whistletree directly.
My conveyancers in Birmingham have advised me that no longer have my conveyancing file. To assist with my purchase I took out a mortgage with Whistletree. Is it case that being on the Whistletree conveyancing panel they need to have retained the file for a number of years?
Different lenders have different requirements 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 Whistletree Conveyancing Panel Terms. It might be worth you contacting Whistletree directly.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house. My mortgage broker suggested a solicitor I paid an upfront payment of 225. Soon after the conveyancers contacted me to say that they were not on the Whistletree conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Whistletree panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.
Whistletree have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on house has been accepted, now what?
The estate agent will want to know who your solicitors are (make sure these solicitors are on the lenders panel). Call up Whistletree or your broker and complete any relevant paperwork. Whistletree will tell you what documents they want. Whistletree will instruct a valuer. The valuer will get in touch with the estate agent or seller to book an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about week to get a mortgage offer. Whistletree will issue the offer to you and your lawyer. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing.
Me and my partner are purchasing a penthouse in Hendon. Conveyancing solicitors in Hendon are about to beretained. My brother-in-lawrecommended that we make sure that the solicitor in Hendon is on the Whistletree panel. Is this really necessary?
Far from all Hendon conveyancing firms are on the Whistletree conveyancing panel. Use the above search tool to search for a Hendon conveyancing lawyer on the on the Whistletree solicitors pane.
