Common questions asked concerning the Whistletree Conveyancing Panel from members of the public
I am progressing with the sale of my house and the EA has just e-mailed to advise that the buyers are swapping property lawyer. The reason given is that Whistletree will only deal with property lawyers on their approved list. On what basis would a leading lender only work with certain law firms?
Banks have always had panels of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as HSBC, have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for more than 25 years.
Banks 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 being contacted daily by practices 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.
Please help. My solicitor is advising me that she is duty-bound to apply for a Local Authority search stemming from the fact that the firm are on the Whistletree approved lawyer panel. Is my lawyer correct?
Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. As you are taking a mortgage with Whistletree your lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your lawyer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of Whistletree’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements last updated Whistletree. even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out a local authority search.
I see that you have a post code search directory listing solicitors on the Whistletree conveyancing panel. Do firms pay you a referral fee if I instruct them for my house purchase?
We are a listing service only for law firms wishing to communicate if they are on the Whistletree conveyancing panel or other lender panels. We do not charge referral fees to the any conveyancer that you subsequently appoint.
The solicitors that just started acting on my purchase in Manchester has without warning closed. I chose them because I needed a firm on the Whistletree conveyancing panel and my preferred lawyer was not. I gave them a cheque for £150 in advance. What should be my next steps?
Assuming that you have an Estate Agent in the equation then let them know straight away so that they advise the vendors that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You will need to appoint new lawyers that are on the Whistletree conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors should be in a position to help
I previously instructed online conveyancers located in Bristol who are on the Whistletree solicitor panel. They have just invoiced me a separate fee of £175 for the legal aspects of the Whistletree mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by Whistletree?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitors can charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by Whistletree but by your lawyers. Some firms on the Whistletree will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee but plenty of firms include it on their overall fee.
The for formalities of my purchase has taken place with a loan from Whistletree. Conveyancing was a necessary evil but I would like to complain about Whistletree. Who do I contact should I wish to lodge a complaint?
Most banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first port of call should be one of the Whistletree branches or the Customer Services Department at Whistletree head office. Ordinarily complaints to Whistletree are sorted out very quickly. If you feel that the matter is not resolved you can write to the
Financial Ombudsman Service at South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR who will take matters further.
My ex -wife’s name is on the Whistletree mortgage of my property but not on the land registry. The apartment was transferred to me on our divorce many years ago by way of a sealed court order. Does my ex still have a say on the sale even though the land registry showing the property in my name alone? Will I be required to take her name of the Whistletree mortgage in order to sell?
In terms of the Whistletree mortgage, it is unusual that your ex-wife’s name remains on the mortgage but not on the title. It is conceivable that this is an oversight on the part of your conveyancers to ensure that her name was removed or even an administrative error on the part of Whistletree in failing to update their data. In any event, it should cause difficulty providing her name no longer appears on the Land Registry title and you have a court order ordering that the property is transferred to you.