Yorkshire Bank Conveyancing Panel : Questions and Answers from members of the public
My fiance and I are FTBs. Within the 48 hours our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Yorkshire Bank have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
If you are buying a property with the assistance 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 Yorkshire Bank and see if they can apply for membership of the Yorkshire Bank conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Yorkshire Bank will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the Yorkshire Bank conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
Can you clarify something for me?. For no fault of my lawyer but, my purchase conveyancing has been going on for months. The Local Authority Search from Yorkshire Bank was dated random date and we have agreed a date for me to move into the property on 10 days inc Day of week eg. Mon. My solicitor says that as she is on the Yorkshire Bank conveyancing panel she needs to reorder the searches as they are now out of date.
A precondition to being on the Yorkshire Bank approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook Part 2 obligations (last updated for this lender on Yorkshire Bank)which states that a local authority search be not more than half a year old. You should nevertheless ask your lawyer to check whether something called ‘search validation’ indemnity insurance is acceptable to Yorkshire Bank.
Do I have to attend the offices of the Yorkshire Bank conveyancing panel solicitor to execute the legal charge? If so, I will choose one who does conveyancing in London
so that I can pop in to their offices if necessary.
Most conveyancing panel lawyers for Yorkshire Bank undertake all of the work via the post, internet or over the phone. This means that they can undertake your Conveyancing Transaction no matter where you live in England or Wales. However you should check if you can still book an appointment to go into appointed conveyancing lawyer if you prefer.
We're in Wales, FTBs buying with a mortgage (lender is Yorkshire Bank , but our solicitor is on the Yorkshire Bank conveyancing panel). How long should the conveyancing process take?
The fact that your lawyer is on the Yorkshire Bank conveyancing panel is a help. It would almost certainly delay matters if they were not. However, no conveyancer should guarantee a time-frame for your conveyancing due to third parties outside of our control such as delays caused by lenders,conveyancing search providers or by the other side’s solicitors. The time taken is often determined by the number of parties in a chain
is it true that all conveyancing solicitors on the Yorkshire Bank conveyancing panel overseen by the SRA?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Yorkshire Bank conveyancing panel they would need to be regulated by the SRA. Many lenders do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC).
In what circumstances might Yorkshire Bank amend or withdraw their mortgage offer?
Banks and Building Societies such as Yorkshire Bank can revoke their mortgage offer although this is unusual. In the unlikely event that Yorkshire Bank withdraw their offer they may or may not inform you or the lawyer as to the reasons why. There are many potential reasons but here are a number of examples:
- Many mortgage offers have an expiry date. Your lawyer should check this. Yorkshire Bank 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
- Where the sale is not at arms length for value to unconnected persons
- Where the lender is on notice of a restriction or a right of pre-emption which is not at market value
- If the lender reasonably believe that the applicant, borrower, mortgagor or guarantor is insolvent or is about to become insolvent or has or will have a petition presented or if any one or all enter into any arrangement with their creditors generally or if any one or all should suffer a material change in their financial circumstances
We expect to receive a DIP from Yorkshire Bank this week so we can work out what to offer on a property we like as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc).Do the Yorkshire Bank recommend a solicitor on the Yorkshire Bank conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer
You will need to appoint solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Yorkshire Bank conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and the Yorkshire Bank through the process.
