Q and A’s regarding the Yorkshire Building Society Conveyancing Panel from members of the public
My fiance and I are first time buyers. Within the last couple of days our lawyer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Yorkshire Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our solicitor is not on their approved list of lawyers. 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 solicitors should contact Yorkshire Building Society and see if they can apply for membership of the Yorkshire Building Society conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Yorkshire Building Society will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the Yorkshire Building Society conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
Our conveyancer has informed me that he requires personal identification documents stating that this forms part of his obligations as a solicitor on the Yorkshire Building Society Conveyancing panel. Is this right?
Due to Money Laundering Regulations your conveyancing lawyer is duty bound to confirm positively your identification when entering into a business relationship with you. It is a criminal offense if your lawyer not do this. If you do not provide ID early in the transaction the solicitor must refuse to act for you. It’s unlikely a lawyer will turn you away if you come to the first meeting without relevant ID but you will have to produce it at some point so you might as well bring it with you to the initial meeting so the lawyer can tick the ID verification box and start sorting out the conveyancing straight away. If you are getting a mortgage with Yorkshire Building Society your lawyer also has to check ID documents to satisfy Yorkshire Building Society
How do I find a local solicitor on the Yorkshire Building Society conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 20 miles to meet the conveyancer.
Feel free to make use of the find a conveyancing panel tool on this website. Please choose the lender and your location and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest you. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the Yorkshire Building Society solicitor panel.
I am purchasing a terraced house and getting a mortgage with Yorkshire Building Society. Conveyancing solicitors are said to be ‘a necessary evil’ but can I do it myself?
Leaving aside the complexities and merits of DIY conveyancing you will have to appoint a solicitor on the Yorkshire Building Society conveyancing panel to look after their interests. Most people therefore find it easier to let the solicitor act for them and the lender. Furthermore there is minimal cost savings to made in you doing to conveyancing for yourself and another lawyer conducting the conveyancing for the lender. Please feel free to use the search tool to find a lawyer on the Yorkshire Building Society conveyancing panel in your location.
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Yorkshire Building Society as we wish to carry out alterations or improvements our home. Do we need to appoint a solicitor on the Yorkshire Building Society conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Yorkshire Building Society would not normally appoint a member of 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 Yorkshire Building Society panel
Completion of my purchase has taken place with a loan from Yorkshire Building Society. Conveyancing was satisfactory but I feel I should register my dissatisfaction about Yorkshire Building Society. How do I make a complaint?
Most banks and building societies have complaints procedures. Your first point of contact should be one of the Yorkshire Building Society branches or the Customer Care Team at Yorkshire Building Society head office. In most cases complaints to Yorkshire Building Society 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 with full details of your complaint.
I recently had an offer accepted on an apartment. My mortgage broker pressured me to appoint their lawyers I paid an upfront payment of 175. Soon after the conveyancers contacted me sheepishly admitting that they were not on the Yorkshire Building Society 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 Yorkshire Building Society 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.