HSBC - Approved solicotrs??

bloydie

Hi i am seeking some advice. My G/f is purchasing a house as a 1st time buyer. She was looking to get the HSBC mortgage. However we just got give a quote of 1600 from a solicitor for the work. This seems too high to me. Solicotor said as they are not on the HSBC preferred list it would cost an extra £400.

How can i find out which solicitor is HSBC approved??

kingstreet

Ask HSBC? There are 43 firms, inclusing the panel manager Countrywide Conveyancing. You may wish to search for threads about them on the HBR&S board.

Using a solicitor of your partner's choice means HSBC will appoint a solicitor to act for it and the charge of £192 will be passed on to her.

They are demanding more work by the borrower's solicitor, pushing their costs up, then demanding payment for their solicitor too.

This is only the start and many borrowers will ditch HSBC for the mortgage when they see this in operation.

The story so far;-

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3755857

_Andy_

bloydie wrote: »

How can i find out which solicitor is HSBC approved??

Ring HSBC and ask would surely be the most logical step,

Horizon81

Can anyone explain exactly how this works? Is Countrywide a body that all HSBC house purchases go through, and they have a panel of 43?

betmunch

Countrywide is the Panel Manager for HSBC. I believe the way it works is Countrywide Property Lawyers (look them up on ciao if you fancy a laugh - they are awful!) and 42 of their cronies now have the contract to protect HSBC's interests on any mortgage transaction.

This means they have to sign off any work done on a purchase or remortgage.

If you choose to use someone outside of the panel you will have to pay £192 for the panel conveyancer to check the work done by your chosen conveyancer. This is likely to result in your conveyancer charging you extra as well due to the difficulty of explaining stuff to the panel conveyancer.

This move will result in extra cost to the customer, and a delay the process, and is a huge own goal by HSBC in my book

Timmyt or Richard Webster will probably be able to explain the problems anticipated better than me

Horizon81

Cheers, that makes sense. Seems Nationwide have also had a cull but not to the extent of HSBC. Shame, as HSBC had great rates, might have guessed there'd be a catch.

kingstreet

Horizon - by way of background, these actions are in response to an FSA thematic review which centred on the growth of mortgage fraud.

The FSA's response was to "recommend" lenders more diligently manage their panels of both brokers and solicitors. As a response, Halifax has cut its broker and solicitor panels, Nationwide has culled "dormant" solicitor firms from its panel and HSBC has appointed Countrywide its panel manager and taken a panel of just 43 to handle its business.

HSBC is the first, but will certainly not be the last, to take similar action in the near future.

A separate solicitor to act for the lender is actually a throwback to the days when I first entered the industry, where in the 1980s it was normal for lender and solicitor to use different firms and for the borrower to pick up the tab for both.

Horizon81

The last thing everyone needs is for the house buying process to be any slower. What do you mean by 'dormant' solicitors when you refer to Nationwide?

kingstreet

Solicitors who were on the Nationwide panel but who hadn't handled a case for twelve months were removed as "dormant". TBH they could reapply if they had CQS accreditation, so it wasn't anything like the size of issue HSBC has managed to generate.

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/productsandservices/accreditation/conveyancingqualityscheme.page

Conrad

Horizon81 wrote: »

The last thing everyone needs is for the house buying process to be any slower.

Next time you read one of those Daily Mail headlines calling for a return to old fashioned lending, just remember that it means more regulation and hassles for customers.

People often applaud the calls for stricter lending, until it's thier turn to borrow, and then all of a sudden they find out it affects them too.:eek:

Thrugelmir

betmunch wrote: »

Countrywide is the Panel Manager for HSBC. I believe the way it works is Countrywide Property Lawyers (look them up on ciao if you fancy a laugh - they are awful!) and 42 of their cronies now have the contract to protect HSBC's interests on any mortgage transaction.

Doesn't mean that the business can't be turned around.

Having bought and sold on numerous occasions over the years. I found the quality of the solicitors the other party used to be extremely variable in quality. So selecting Countrywide out for criticism is unfair.

Conveyancing become easy money for solicitors during the boom times. Like other related parties in the property market they need to change their business models.