Am I correct in assuming that the fact that my conveyancer in Exmouth is not identified on my bank's solicitor panel that there is a problem with the standard of her conveyancing?
It would not be wise to jump to that conclusion. There are plenty of reasonable explanations. Just recently a report by the solicitors regulator revealed 76% of law firms surveyed had been removed from at least one lender panel. The most common reasons for removal are: (1) low volume of transactions (2) the solicitor is a sole practitioner (3) as part of the HSBC panel reduction (4) regulatory contact by SRA (5) accidental removal. If you are concerned you should contact the Exmouth conveyancing firm and enquire why they are no longer on the approved list for your lender.
is it true that all Exmouth solicitor practices on the conveyancing panel are governed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority?
As a firm of solicitors, in order to be on the conveyancing panel they would need to be overseen by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. The majority of banks do permit licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such organisation would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers.
We previously appointed solicitors based in Exmouth on the solicitor approved list. They are now charging me a separate fee for dealing with the mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by ?
Provided it is contained in their Terms of Engagement or estimate then yes your can charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by but by your Exmouth . Plenty of firms on the panel will quote an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
The mortgage over my property is with for my property in Exmouth. Conveyancing has been completed 12 months ago. If I am intending to rent out the flat and do not currently have a buy-to-let mortgage do I need to remortgage to a BTL mortgage or inform ?
You must advise prior to renting your property as this is likely to be a breach of ’s mortgage conditions. It may be that will allow you to rent out your former home without needing to switch to a buy-to-let mortgage but some lenders will add a surcharge to your mortgage rate to reflect the higher risk. You should contact directly. It should not be necessary to do this via a conveyancing panel firm.
Various web forums that I have frequented warn that are the number one cause of hinderance in Exmouth house deals. Is that correct?
The Council of Property Search Organisations (CoPSO) published determinations of a review by MoveWithUs that conveyancing searches do not feature amongst the most frequent causes of delays during the legal transfer of property. Local searches are unlikely to feature in any delay in conveyancing in Exmouth.
Me and my brother purchased a 4 bedroom Edwardian house in Exmouth. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and . I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and there are two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the matching property. I thought I was buying a freehold how can I check?
You need to review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered proprietor of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Exmouth and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also question the position with your conveyancing practitioner who conducted the purchase.
As co-executor for the estate of my uncle I am disposing of a property in Newport but I am based in Exmouth. My lawyer (approximately 200 miles from meneeds me to sign a statutory declaration prior to completion. Could you suggest a conveyancing practitioner in Exmouth to attest this legal document for me?
Technically speaking you should not be required to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Ordinarily or notary public or qualified solicitor will do regardless of whether they are Exmouth based