Conveyancing query on a Switcher Mortgage

Hi,

I am at the end of my 5yr fixed rate period with BOI and have decided to switch to another bank. I have been accepted in principle with an LTV of circa 56%.

My question relates to the Legal end of things regarding the mortgage switch.
Do I need to use the Legal Firm I engaged at the time of buying the house or can I engage another firm? If so, will this increase costs if there is a lot of admin relating to the original Firm holding the Deeds, etc?

The original firm were pretty terrible to deal with and I'd prefer using someone else this time round...

Thanks,

Bren

You can use any firm you like.

The original firm should not hold the deeds, they should be held by the bank. If they were really terrible, then they might not have finished the paperwork yet.

But you still should not use them.

Brendan

Cheers Brendan - I certainly won't be using them so...

On this tiopic, is there a key post for the best conveyancing rates for switch applications? I haven't seen one yet. It would strike me that there would be a lot less work involved in a switch application, so the legal fees should be substantially lower than a full application.

To mortgage a property a solicitor has to undertake to the bank to investigate the title, disclose any flaws to the bank/ or certify the title to the bank, cause searches to be made, draw down funds, and register the charge. This is a simplification of the process, anyone who has been involved in conveyancing will know that 'investigating title' is a huge amount of work.

To switch, exactly the same process except there is a further repayment of the old mortgage, vacate of the old charge step involved. So actually on a switch there is more work involved, not less.

Just on the above point I acknowledge that title investigation on an Unregistered holding can be labour intensive and protracted. Surely the same costs/workload should not be applicable to Registered Holdings! Given the transition of all property towards Registered should conveyancing costs not reflect the workloads?

I have a great deal of experience in conveyancing and what it means to certify title. The highest number of professional negligence claims against practicing solicitors is in relation to conveyancing. Most of the complaints to the law society against solicitors are by banks when a solicitor fails to comply with an undertaking in relation to title. What is marketable title is incredibly complicated, and involves knowledge of both title in itself but also compliance with planning, building regulations, taxes, unregistered rights which may affect, all the new levies which can affect, BERs, tenancy issues and so on and so on. It's impossible to overstate how difficult it is to certify title, which may seem incomprehensible to the untrained eye. People may think all we have to do is look at the title document but unfortunately that is just the easy bit.

Despite your bad experience with the original solicitor it would be very strange indeed if they were not the cheapest to do the job as basically they know the title is fine. Buying property is stressful always so many people have a bad impression of the professionals.

I think Bronte has a good point. Also you may never have told of your issues. TBH unless you prompt some of these folk with a needle every so often they may appear tardy. You could negotiate strongly and the solicitor will probably want the business.

Thanks for the replies - I have instructed a local Solicitor who not only called back the same day, but emailed on a very detailed quotation.

(The original Firm that I had contacted via email for a quotation on July 10th have not even replied to the quotation request)....