Is Our Property Conveyancer Dodgy Please Help!

23gillies

Hi there everyone,

Me and my girlfriend are getting our first feet on the property ladder (naive first time buyers) and have got as a far as having an offer accepted, being initially approved for the mortgage, and choosing our solicitors.

We were told yesterday by the Bank that we're using, Halifax, that they lawyers that we'd appointed were not on their "approved list", so we went back and let our property laywer to let her know.

She came back to us with an option to get around this problem; what she suggested doing was using another law firm, who are on the approved list and she'll work for us through them.

She described it as I scratch your back, you scratch mine scenario that happens between certain property law firms when they have clients who want to use them, but the lender will not work directly with them.

I have pasted the message that she sent us below (I've removed their names)

"Hello Kathryn,

We understands that you are aiming to obtain a mortgage from Halifax, unfortunately we are not on the Halifax panel at the moment. We however have an agreement with another firm of solicitors who can act for the lender in these circumstances. The quote given to you will remain the same i.e. you will not pay any additional fees.

Please give their details to your mortgage broker/bank. I will continue to act for you and they will act for the lenders, the process remains the same but instead of me sending the mortgage deed to you to sign, NAME OF OTHER PROPERTY LAYWERS may.

Their details are: DETAILS OF OTHER LAWYERS

Please let me know whether this is agreeable to you".

Do you think this is above board and legit. This may be very obvious to someone who's bought property before, but I'm genuinely confused and don't want to make any mistakes with such a big purchase.

Will genuinely be grateful for any reply...

Oliver

Atomix

Sounds above board to me... These are people who deal in law don't forget, they want your business - and are giving you a solution.

If the Halifax didn't have their list - you would have still done business with them - what's changed really?

It wouldn't bother me anyway - :-)

G_M

It is not dodgy at all.

But it is cumbersome. It will slow things down, involve duplication of work, and I'd be amazed if it does not end up costing more.

Find a solicitor you like who is on H's panel (perhaps even the one referred to!) and instruct them to work for you AND the H.

kingstreet

As Halifax panel membership is pretty straightforward, I'd want to know why the firm cannot be a member. A conveyancer not able to do Halifax cases is putting itself and its clients at considerable inconvenience.

In my experience, when a firm is not on a particular panel it will have itself added if a client comes along wanting to use that lender.

I can only conclude it is unable to join Halifax panel, so I'd ask why. It may be something innocuous, like insufficient number of partners. However, it could be something more serious you should know about before you instruct them.