Awards season continues…
This time of year seems to have become a relentless churn of awards, but amongst all the gloom and slowing of the market for winter its good to celebrate some conveyancing successes …. Optima Legal is one of the largest remortgage providers to lenders in the country and specialises in property and secured debt recovery […]
SCL Conference Report
On Tuesday the 22nd November I attended the Embracing the Future of Conveyancing conference set up by the Society of Licensed Conveyancers. Speakers and topics included: Jennifer Bourne, Legal and Financial Crime, CML, Mortgage Fraud: Paul Broadhead, Head of Mortgage Policy, BSA, Lenders Panels: Victor Olowe, Chief Executive, Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), A New […]
LSB Consumer Panel criticises aspects of the CQS – or fiddling whilst Rome burns.
The Legal Services Board Consumer panel last week issued a report into legal voluntary quality schemes assessing 13 schemes including the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme. The CQS was launched in February to rebuild trust with lenders, insurers and consumers in the wake of unacceptably high levels of fraud and negligence in the conveyancing community. […]
Breach of post completion contractual obligations
Howard -Jones v Tate [2011] EWCA Civ 1330 (24 November 2011) Introduction Solicitor and partner Mr Anis Waiz of Mohindra Maini LLP continues his critical review of current case law. This is a very important decision which considered the remedies available following a breach of a post-completion condition in a contract for the sale of […]
Who is thy Neighbour?
Chaudhary v Yavuz [2011] EWCA Civ 1314 (22 November 2011) Introduction The issue was whether an informal easement and not registered at the Land Registry could be effective against a purchaser of the land over which the easement would be exercised. Gray and Gray Elements of Land Law, 5th edition (2009), paragraph 8.2.24 notes "It […]
Innovator of the Year Award for myhomemove
myhomemove, one of the UK’s leading conveyancing providers, bagged the Innovator of the Year Award (non-lenders) at the 2012 Mortgage Finance Gazette Awards 2012. The award was in recognition of eWay, the latest innovation from myhomemove. eWay, available exclusively to clients of Premier Property Lawyers, myhomemove’s wholly owned subsidiary law firm, is an online casefile […]
Solar Panel Leases: Protecting the Interests of Clients and Lenders
Solar panel providers will offer to Lease your roof space so that they can install the solar panels, for which they do not normally pay a rent. Your Client can use as much of the ‘free’ energy as they like with the remainder going back to the grid. Without any storage cells, unless the energy […]
Will Solicitors Panel Changes increase separate representation?
Separate representation was of course common years ago as lenders did not operate open Solicitor panels however increased competition in recent years meant that it was extremely common to act for the Borrower and the Lender and this meant the borrower avoided delays and extra costs. Following the credit crunch and mortgage fraud issues, there […]
SLC produce a CQS?
At the first, of what is expected to become an annual event in the legal calendar, the Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC), the trade body representing the conveyancing profession, yesterday unveiled its Lender’s Panel Proposition: SLC Quality Assured which many are already comparing to the CQS for solicitors. The new quality mark, which has already […]
HS2 conveyancing report
On November 21st, GroundSure will release GroundSure HIGHSPEED 2, a search report that clearly identifies whether a property is near the proposed route of HIGHSPEED 2 (HS2). This new unique report searches properties within a 2000m radius, which is double the distance offered by other similar searches. One of the major infrastructure projects of 21st […]
David Cameron announces 95% mortgages for first time buyers
David Cameron and Nick Clegg have today announced that they are to introduce a tax-payer backed 95 per cent mortgage in order to help “unstick” the housing market. The announcement is said to “make the dream of home ownership a reality for more people” and will tackle the housing shortage, give the economy a much […]
Napthen's remind clients about end of Stamp Duty Holiday
Napthan’s solicitors in the North West of England have reminded first time buyers looking to move home that the current stamp duty ‘holiday’ is due to end early next year. At present for properties worth up to £125,000, there is no tax charged for anybody. For properties sold for between £125,000-£250,000, buyers will be […]
ETSOS: A November to Remember
ETSOS have more than enough reason to celebrate this month. The 22nd November sees ETSOS attending and exhibiting at the Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) conference ‘Embracing the future of conveyancing’. This news makes it a double celebration for ETSOS since it has been confirmed that, despite less than two trading years, they have “broken […]
SRA: Regulation required for all legal services
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), in their response to the Legal Services Board’s (LSB) consultation on enhancing consumer protection, reducing regulatory restrictions, called for a “fundamental review of the basis of the regulation of legal services in England and Wales”. The SRA believe that all legal services should be regulated and that the LSB’s proposal […]
LEGAL OMBUDSMAN v HOWARD ROBERT GILLESPIE YOUNG [2011] EWHC 2923 (Admin)
Introduction Solicitor and partner Mr Anis Waiz of Mohindra Maini LLP continues his critical review of current case law. This is a case of crucial importance to all lawyers and a valuable lesson in client care and dealing properly and in good fashion with the regulator. Least we forget as officers of the court we […]
CML: Bringing lenders and conveyancers together
As media partner for the upcoming “shaping the future of conveyancing” conference hosted by the CML we were lucky enough to be able to ask Jennifer Bourne, Senior Policy Advisor some questions: Can you let us know why the CML are holding the conference? “The time seemed right to hold a conference focusing on the […]
CML: “Mortgage arrears don’t necessarily mean repossession is inevitable”
Mortgage lenders repossessed 9,200 properties during the third quarter of 2011, a slight increase on the second quarter figure of 9,100, according to latest survey data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The third quarter figures equate to a total of 0.08 per cent of all mortgages, the same as five out of the […]
Know your Flood Risk campaign warns changes could threaten house sales
On 30 June 2013, the ‘Statement of Principles’ agreement between the Government and the insurance industry, comes to an end. The current agreement states that insurers are obliged to provide insurance for ‘at risk’ homes. This could make obtaining affordable flood insurance extremely difficult, if not impossible for some customers, and for those who cannot […]
Homeowners not taking advantage of Remortgages to cut outgoings
Research from Barclays has shown that despite homeowners currently trying to reduce their monthly outgoings 58% of homeowners have never changed their mortgage outside of moving house. 74% of those asked have said they would consider moving their mortgage if they could save up to £50 per month, but most believe changing their mortgage would […]
New, low-cost case and risk management portal for conveyancers
Move and Log, a Norwich based Property IT company, recently launched their online portal, designed with suppliers of conveyancing services in mind. The system aims to “assist busy practitioners in managing multiple transactions and the conveyancing risks associated with those transactions. Lawyer and designer of the online resource, David Pett, explains the background of the […]
