Homebuyers who take out a mortgage from HSBC will be forced to use one of its panel of 43 firms chosen to do its legal work, or face paying more, after a change in its rules. Previously, customers could choose which firm they wanted to do their conveyancing, and it would act for HSBC too. However, following warnings over mortgage fraud from the National Fraud Authority, which puts the cost of the industry at £1bn a year, and an instruction from the Financial Services Authority telling lenders they need to know the firms they work with better, HSBC announced this will no longer be an option.
Our View - Many lenders now have a restrictive panel of solicitors and conveyancers to do the legal work on both remortgages and home purchases, driven by the same issues as HSBC. We always recommend the use of a bigger firm, to ensure the quality of work as well as the fact they will be on the lenders' panel, so if you see us providing you with quotes for reputable firms, they wil be for larger established firms we have already checked can be used with the the lender you are choosing.
Source- The Guardian 14/1/2012
This is an understandable move from the lenders to ensure trust between the parties but slightly frustrating when I already have a long standing relationship with my Melksham solicitors
ReplyDelete