remove someone from mortgage, solicitors costs & fee seem high?

AbbieCadabra

a friend of mine has gone through the process of getting his partner (not married) off the joint mortgage. it's taken forever to sort out, about 8 weeks, perhaps longer, but he's finally got the go ahead from Yorkshire Bank that it's ok.

during his first phone call with the bank, only a fee of £150 was mentioned. now he's got actual confirmation, the letter states £250 fee & £800 solicitors's costs!

is this something that's worked out on the mortgage circumstances or is it just whatever is set by the bank for the process & anyone would be charged this? i don't suppose they can be negotiated either, it's just what the bank charges??

kittycatsam

From experience I would guess that the £150 is an admin fee for processing the changes, £250 for the property valuation fees and then £800 for the conveyancing which is done even on a re mortgage. Sometimes these fees can be paid by the lender as part of a mortgage deal they are offering but usually you are liable for them yourself.

dunstonh

Solicitors normally provide an estimate of costs with their terms of business. The bank wouldnt know the solicitor costs as that is third party.

AbbieCadabra

the £150 that was originally quoted has completely disappeared, it's £250 + £800 now.

dunstonh wrote: »

Solicitors normally provide an estimate of costs with their terms of business. The bank wouldnt know the solicitor costs as that is third party.

so the bank wouldn't have been in a position to quote their solicitors costs until it had been through the whole process & given the go ahead? is that what you mean? (my friend doesn't even have a solicitor involved at the moment).

opinions4u

I would have expected the bank's fee to be published clearly up front and included with an annual mortgage statement. It may be possible that they've reviewed their fee and increased it, although that is a major increase in charges. Halifax charge £160.

The legal costs at £800 sound high. I would have expected a figure of around £300 for the legal side of the whole transaction. (Just found a Lloyds TSB charge of £265 plus VAT = £311 if you are transferring ownership at the same time as benefitting from free legal fees on a remortgage).

Is the lender insisting on appointing the solicitor, or does your friend have the option of deciding who does the legal work? Also, who is the lender?

I would strongly suggest that he asks for an explanation of the costs. They seem high. Either you're being ripped off or there is something more complicated as part of this transaction.

AbbieCadabra

it's with Yorkshire Bank & i have a suspicion it's the circumstances of the mortgage that might be incurring high costs (for whatever reason) - 100% mortgage, taken out less than a year ago & it was a new build house...

from what i've found on here, i thought solicitors fees of around the £300 mark would be due.

i don't know if he has the option of using another solicitor & not just who the bank have appointed, i'll get him to ask if he decides to go ahead. at the moment, he's umm'ing & arhh'ing about selling up instead (whole different can of worms to be opened if he decides to do that instead!).