Find an Approved Solicitor on the Ecology Building Society
Conveyancing Panel
FAQs : The Ecology Building Society Solicitor Panel
My wife and I are FTBs. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with a view to exchanging next week. Ecology Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our lawyer is not on their conveyancing panel. 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 Accreditation Scheme.
Your property lawyers should contact Ecology Building Society and see if they can apply for membership of the Ecology Building Society conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Ecology Building Society will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the Ecology Building Society conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My solicitor has spotted an inconsistency when comparing the surveyor’s assumptions in Ecology Building Society’s valuation report and what is revealed within the legal papers for the property. My lawyer has advised that as he is on the Ecology Building Society conveyancing panel he is duty bound to ensure that the bank is happy with this discrepancy and is still content to lend. Is my conveyancer’s approach correct?
A precondition to being on the Ecology Building Society approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on Ecology Building Society) which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for both parties.
How up to date is your search tool for the Ecology Building Society conveyancing panel? Do Ecology Building Society send you an updated list?
The law firm practices themselves provide us confirmation that they are on the Ecology Building Society conveyancing panel as opposed to being supplied with a list from Ecology Building Society directly.
Please explain the implications if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the Ecology Building Society Solicitor panel prior to the moving date as agreed at exchange of contracts?
First, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have ti instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by the regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
I have not been happy with the level or service received from my lawyer. Is there a Ecology Building Society conveyancing panel complaints department or do I complain directly to the law firm?
There is little point in complaining directly to Ecology Building Society. All solicitors and conveyancer must have a complaints procedure. You can get information from the solicitor’s or conveyancer’s website or ask at their office. They must tell you about it if you ask.
The Legal Ombudsman will make sure that your complaint is addressed by the solicitor. It can also advise you how to complain.
If a licensed conveyancer does not have a complaints procedure or will not tell you about it, contact the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), which will make sure that your complaint is properly dealt with by the conveyancer. Please see below for more information.
I can not work out if my mortgage offer obliges me to make sure the lease term for the flat is extended prior to the completion date . I have called Ecology Building Society on various occasions and was told they are content with the situation and they would lend. My solicitor - who is on the Ecology Building Society conveyancing panel- telephoned and was told not they would not lend in accordance with their CML Handbook minimum lease term requirements. Who do I believe?
As long as the conveyancer is on the Ecology Building Society panel she or he must comply with the CML Handbook requirements for Ecology Building Society. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that Ecology Building Society will go ahead your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask Ecology Building Society to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the remaining number of years left on the lease.
My ex -wife’s name is on the Ecology Building Society 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 Ecology Building Society mortgage in order to sell?
As regards the Ecology Building Society 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 Ecology Building Society 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.