About CQS Conveyancing

Google Maps containing information on public Rights of Way could be of use in the Conveyancing Process as conveyancing solicitors in some cases have to investigate trough Commons Registration Searches and other conveyancing searches. I am sure we all agree that speeding up conveyancing would be a good idea.

The principle of caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) means that the purchaser is assumed to purchase the land or property in its condition at the date of the contract, regardless of what the buyer actually knows about the property. The responsibility for finding out about the property lies with the purchaser so it is the purchaser ( =though his advisers ) who submits pre-contract enquiries with the vendor. Whether or not the purchaser raises enquiries, the vendor is legally compelled to disclose latent encumbrances and defects in title, unless the contract says otherwise. The vendor's duty does not extend to disclosure of physical defects and the vendor is not required to disclose anything that is already in the purchaser's knowledge. It is generally unwise for the vendor to assume that the buyer has actual knowledge. The purchaser's remedies for incorrect or incomplete replies Subject to the terms of the conveyancing contract, the purchaser has no remedy against the selle...

The Legal Services Board is to have an oversight role in ensuring that the interests of consumers ( including conveyancing clients ) are properly protected. It is said that the immediate priority of the Legal Serviced Board is to ensure that the regulatory function of each regulator is separated from any representative function. This is most relevant for the Law Society which has set up the SRA ( Solicitors Regulation Authority ) to regulate conveyancing solicitors and non conveyancing solicitors. The Bar Council has set up the Bar Standards Board to regulate barristers in England and Wales. The establishment costs and ongoing running costs of both the Legal Services Board and the OLC will be funded by the legal profession. The Legal Services Board will soon make rules to determine the way in which the costs will be covered and split between the different branches of the legal profession. The Council of Licensed Conveyancers will soon after decide how its liability for these costs ...

Conveyancing stands as the legal process to obtain the ownership of a property. Conveyancing covers the whole buying and selling process of a property, hence the property is registered in the name of the purchaser only after following the legal process of conveyancing. Conveyancing is essentially the transaction that takes place between the buyer and the seller. It is therefore during the contract negotiations between the two parties a conveyancing service provider is needed. Conveyancing service is usually provided either by the conveyancing lawyers, known as the conveyancer, or by the conveyancing companies. Choosing the conveyancing solicitor can be daunting. Consider the following tips to choose the best service to befit your requirement and to strike the best deal. Look for a competitive and fixed rate: Whether you are searching for a conveyancer or conveyancing companies, look for a fixed competitive conveyance cost if you want the value for your money. Keep away from the fir...

In Daejan Investments Ltd v Benson and others [2009] UKUT 233 (LC), the Freeholder/landlord who owned a block of shops and flats gave notice to the leaseholders of the flats that it intended to carry out major works amounting to £270,000. The landlord failed to comply with the statutory service charge consultation requirements leading to a service charge dispute. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) refused to grant a dispensation from compliance. This net result of the decision was that the service charge liability of the five leasehold owners was limited to £250 each. At appeal, the Lands Chamber of the Upper Tribunal agreed with the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal that it could not take into account the disproportionate financial consequences for the landlord when deciding whether or not to make an order for dispensation: the statutory consequences of the failure to comply were an intrinsic part of the law relating to service charges, and there to be followed. This decision should ...

Did you know that you can be kept up to date about the progress of Crossrail subscribe to the Crossrail Bulletin, keeping you up-to-date on the progress of the Crossrail project. This is very useful for those who conduct conveyancing in London. Crossrail's contact details are as follows: Crossrail Limited | 25 Canada Square | London | E14 5LQ Switchboard: 0203 229 9100 | Helpdesk (24hr) 0345 602 3813.

The Consumer Panel of the Legal Services Board has announced that it is carrying out an enquiry into conveyancing referral arrangements. This is an issue about which there are strong views and conveyancers are urged to take advantage of this opportunity to make sure their views are taken into account. A copy of the Terms of Reference is available from the download section of the Council of Licensed Conveyancers website. All conveyancing referral arrangements will be covered, whether or not they involve payment or fees, including non-monetary arrangements that are linked to the introduction of clients, such as the provision of free or below-cost services in exchange for the referral of other business. The deadline for evidence is 5pm on Friday 26 February 2010. Licensed Conveyancers are invited to respond direct.

For the last few years the mechanism for lenders to discharge registered charges has been by way of an electronic notification of discharge (END). This is to change early 2010. The END has proved to be of great benefit to the conveyancing practices as conveyancers no longer have to chase discharge forms from lenders and manually send the forms to the Land Registry. In other words, it has assisted the post completion element of the conveyancing process. The Land Registry has stated that hopes that those lenders who currently use the END system will sign up to the new portal, which will enable them to discharge mortgages using an electronic notice of discharge of a registered charge (e-DS1). Unlike an END, an e-DS1 operates as a stand-alone application for discharge, which does not require the conveyancer also to submit a separate paper submission.

Background to property fraud Identity Theft The phenomenon of identity theft has assumed alarmingly high proportions around the world today .Advances in technology often fuel identity theft rather than prevent it , as more and more sophisticated means of identity theft are devised by fraudsters . It is estimated that identity theft costs the UK economy approximately 1.7 billion Pounds per annum . In the UK alone there are around 120 000 cases a year of identity theft ( the worldwide figure is 10 million ) per year . Identity fraud is one of the UK's fastest growing crimes . Property Fraud The property industry is not immune against the scourge of identity theft . Mortgage fraud alone is estimated at 700 million Pounds per annum . Land and buildings are usually the most valuable assets people own.Property can be sold or mortgaged to raise money . They are therefore attractive targets for fraudsters . Identity theft is often initiated by the fraudster by changing the legal owner'...

Even though the stamp-duty holiday, which has meant properties under £175,000 have been exempt from the levy, ends in the next couple of weeks, there has been some good news for those looking to get on the property ladder. Yorkshire Building Society has this week launched a new range of mortgages for first-time buyers with a deposit of 15 per cent or more. Its three-year fixed rate of 5.84% with no fee is a market-leading deal and includes £500 cashback, a free survey and conveyancing. This is not only good news for fist time buyers but also lawyers on the Yorkshire conveyancing panel . The "free conveyancing work" only covers basic conveyancing costs and does not cover search fees and land registry charges.

A businessman’s legal dispute with a developer in Reading has led him to set up a website for others legal assistance. As reported in the Reading Post earlier this month, Roy Assersohn is suing Muse Developments over the purchase of six Chatham Place apartments. Mr Assersohn, a former city editor with a national daily paper, has now set up a website to offer legal advice to people who believe they may have been a victim of a “property misdescription”. The Legal Investigation Services is www.property-misdescriptions.com. Most members of the public believe if they have a problem over the purchase of property, their legal redress is with the conveyancing solicitor. But often they should be taking legal action against the developer or in non new build cases the seller of a property.

Hot on the heals of the Law Society looking into the question of referral fees, commissions by conveyancers to estate agents and mortgage brokers are to be examined by the Legal Services Consumer Panel. The Legal Services Consumer Panel will also look at other referral fees paid by lawyers to insurance and claims management companies.

The Daily Mirror in an article entitled How Mortgage Fraudsters Stole Our Mother's House last week highlighted a recent case where crooks have managed to sell a house from under the noses of the real owners - who warn the same fraud could happen to anyone. In March 2009 a BBC reporter wrote to Land Registry, claiming to be the owner of an unmortgaged house in London. Using a bogus signature, the reporter asked for the property's correspondence address to be changed to Liverpool. Land Registry wrote to both addresses confirming the change to be made in 21 days. The owner was known not to be resident at the London address and so no objection was raised. Having been successful it would have been left open to commit a fraud. Although not clear form the Mirror article, critical to many of these scams is the use of stolen identities. According to many conveyancing solicitors specialising in the field, the key context for the problem was the dash into deregulation and e-commerce at ...

Years ago, a completion of a conveyancing transaction would take place in person with the buyer’s solicitor visiting the seller’s solicitor’s office to inspect all the documents before releasing the purchase monies. These days, however, provided the transaction is not complicated, completion takes place through the post. Occasionally, problems may arise on completion and completion is delayed as a result or the transaction can even fail to complete entirely. The contract will specify the date the purchase conveyancing transaction is due to complete. This date is agreed upon by the parties during exchange of contracts. The Standard Conditions of Sale , currently the 4th edition, provide for what happens if completion is delayed or if the transaction fails to complete at all. If for some reason the Buyer is unable to complete on time his Solicitor should notify the Seller’s Solicitor as soon as possible. The Seller’s Solicitor will serve a ‘Notice to Complete’ on the Buyer’s Solicit...

Bank of China has this week become a member of the CML setting out their conveyancing requirements through publishing their Part II requirements. For those not familiar with the CML Lenders Handbook , I should explain that The Lenders' Handbook provides comprehensive instructions for conveyancers acting on behalf of lenders in residential conveyancing transactions. Part II details each lender's specific requirements. At first glance there is nothing too unusual in the Bank of China’s Part IIs. However I remain perplexed by Section. One of the Part II questions is “Contact details if you need to be notified when the seller does not have legal representation”. Bank of China's response is : We do not allow licensed conveyancers to act for the Bank. Therefore, this section in n/a. Can anybody please translate this for me ?

The well timed The Flood Risk Regulations 2009 (FRR 2009) will come into force next week on the 10 December 2009. The FRR 2009 transpose Directive 2007/60/EC on the assessment and management of flood risks (the Floods Directive) into law in England and Wales. The Regulations require lead local flood authorities to, amongst other things, prepare preliminary flood assessment reports, identify flood risk areas, prepare flood hazard and risk maps and prepare flood risk management plans in relation to each flood risk area. It will be interesting to see whether as a result of legislation and greater information conveyancing lawyers being required to carry our further checks. I am anticipating that at some point within the next couple of years the CML Lenders Handbook will be developed to include a requirement for further investigation into flood risk.

Referral Fees The conveyancing profession is not what it was fifteen years ago let alone thirty years ago. Fifteen years ago when I qualified as a solicitor the conveyancing market was dominated by conveyancing solicitors conducting transactions. I suspect that today more than 30 % of transactions are carried out by unqualified staff. Conveyancing solicitors have squandered the high esteem in which we were held by the public. The demise of the conveyancing solicitor started when the Thatcher government broke the conveyancing monopoly in the belief that competition was a ‘good thing’ The emergence of licensed conveyancers sparked a price war with conveyancing costs being cut again and again. The lesson that should have been learnt was to compete on price but on service and to collectively highlight the deficiencies of cheap conveyancing. Unfortunately, solicitors did not learn their lesson as will writers, claims handlers, independent advisers – all have chipped away at solicitor’s pr...

Today’s blog exposes some of the reasons where a the conveyancing lawyer, acting for the seller typically slows the process down : When selling many conveyancing lawyers have the mistaken the belief that all they do is throw out the papers to the Buyer. This mistaken belief has been perpetuated by the doctrine of Caveat Emptor, which obliges the buyer rather than the seller to uncover defects or legal problems with a property. As if the Caveat Emptor was not enough the courts, through cases such as …………have encouraged convayancing lawyers not to look at the paperwork for fear of being legally exposed to an argument that in reviewing ir commenting on the papers that may have some degree of responsibility to the buyer. I would also argue the commoditisation of conveyancing and the driving down of conveyancing fees means that most conveyancing forms do not give themselves the luxury of being proactive and reducing the risk of the buyer’s conveyancers raising enquiries. The net result is t...

The inclusion of environmental searches and enquiries into the conveyancing process is relatively new, having only emerged as something the conveyancing lawyer should investigate in the last 15 years. Heightened environmental awareness has resulted in environmental factors are becoming increasingly relevant to all stakeholders in conveyancing tractions . Factors such as flooding, subsidence, issues of land pollution, radon gas and similar issues are increasingly making the headlines. Since April 2000 Local Authorities must inspect and identify seriously contaminated land areas, however they are only slowly starting to come to terms with their duties here. If in time the local authority identifies a Property area as being contaminated they can issue remediation notices requiring action to clean up the contamination in the absence of voluntary agreement to do so. Liability in such circumstances would primarily rest with the contaminator of the Property. However, if that person cannot...

Conveyancing Liability Solutions (CLS) has launched a product to assist conveyancing firms who sell Home Information Packs direct to sellers or has an associated company that does this. The product is a No Sale No Fee insurance policy for the HIP market. The no sale no fee insurance covers homeowners in the event that the sale of their property either falls through, or fails to sell in a 12 month period from first day marketing where “sale” is classified as exchanging contracts. In addition homeowners are covered if the sale of their property fails either through accident, sickness or redundancy for instance. The cost of the HIP, including all searches, estate agency referral fees, legal and marketing fees are covered in the premiums listed below: Up to £500 limit of indemnity £55 Up to £1,000 limit of indemnity £90 At the end of the 12 month term, if the property has not sold, the homeowner can make a claim to the limit of indemnity purchased. Sam Cherry, Director of CLS said; “Our No...

If you are looking at one of government schemes such as HomeBuy Direct, be aware that if the Tories take power the deals may change. The Conservatives have also said they will raise the stamp duty threshold, due to drop to £125,000 in January, to £250,000, freeing nine out of ten first-time buyers from the duty

The Conservatives intend to scrap Home Information Packs is not news. Grant Shapps has been saying this has been saying it to the trade press. The fact that he has suggested that this will be done in a “in a matter of weeks” after coming to power will catch the public and stakeholders in the property industry by surprise. In an interview with The Times - carried in several other National papers – Shapps says that abolishing HIPs would be his first initiative, should the Conservatives win the election. The assurance follows claims by many estate agents that the packs are adversely affecting the housing market, as would be sellers regard the cost of HIPs as a disincentive at a time when homeowners are already reluctant to move. Shapps said: “House prices are rising because supply is restricted. HIPs have not helped. The main priority is to scrap them. They are easy to suspend and there are emergency powers we can use to do so. This can happen very quickly. HIPs will be gone in a matt...

Kick backs paid to estate agents by conveyancing companies could be outlawed, after a decision by regulators to lobby for their ban. The Law Society, which represents all UK conveyancing solicitors, has tabled a motion to ‘make representations to government and the Legal Services Board that referral fees do not have a place in markets for legal services’ and that they should be banned. The Council of Licensed Conveyancers, who regulate Licensed Conveyancing Firms has not made a similar motion. My firm stopped paying estate agents fees a while ago now. I don’t know what it is like outside London but in London estate agents typically receive anywhere between £100 and £400 for each referral lead that converts into a conveyancing instruction which reached completion. The motion follows recent research by the Office of Fair Trading which found that 80% of estate agents recommend conveyancing solicitors to their clients, and half of these receive referral fees as a result. I believe that...

The only people, by law, who can deal with the legal aspects of conveyancing are solicitors and licensed conveyancers. If you have had poor service from your conveyancing solicitor or licensed conveyancer, and they haven’t dealt with your complaint satisfactorily, you can do the following: • In the case of a conveyancing solicitor, you can complain to the Legal Complaints Service (LCS). If it agrees with your complaint, the LCS can order your conveyancing solicitor to refund your fees or pay you compensation. If you are not happy with how the LCS handles your complaint, you can then take the complaint to the Legal Services Ombudsman. • For a licensed conveyancer, you can complain to the Council for Licensed Conveyancers who, like the LCS can order your conveyancing lawyer to refund your conveyancing fees or pay you compensation. If you suffer a financial loss as a result of negligence (i.e. the conveyancing solicitor or conveyancer didn’t do something they should have done, or did ...

The government may start a selling spree as it acts to reduce record borrowing, set to hit more than 12 percent of gross domestic product this year. The Land Registry has been earmarked by the Government as part of proposals to sell-off £16 billion of public assets to raise cash. So does it matter ? I set out below some of the reasons conveyancing solicitors should care as should members of the public. Conveyancer’s Self Preservation As a public body the Land Registry has no commercial agenda other than to try and cover its costs. Should the Land Registry fall into private hands there is the possibility of it offering certain services that otherwise would have been carried out by solicitors or licensed conveyancers that traditionally have the closer relationships with buyers and sellers. Currently, the Land Registry is predominantly focused on dealing with conveyancing lawyers as opposed to members of the public. What happens if that changes? What happens if they choose to charge for...

UK lenders who have clear interest in the future of conveyancing have recently commented on a Law Society Consultation on Improving Residential Conveyancing. Lenders rely on conveyancing solicitors and conveyancing lawyers to act for them both at the outset of a mortgage transaction or where lenders exercise their power of sale. The CML express doubts as to whether the introduction of HIPs has assisted the conveyancing process and, suggest as which? have done, that HIPs may actually limit consumer choice because of tie ins and referrals. The CML particularly highlight the plight of home owners facing repossession : “For borrowers in difficulty trying to sell a property to overcome financial problems it is a further expense. Lenders assist where possible but for customers experiencing payment problems a HIP is an added expense.”

Three top London agents have strongly denied breaking the Home Information Pack law. The Association of Home Information Pack Providers initially identified the three estate agents as repeatedly listing properties without Home Information Packs. Following their “outing” of the estate agents, AHIPP withdrew the names for legal reasons, but is standing by its overall allegation that agents, particularly in London, are routinely flouting the law on Home Information Packs. One of the estate agents responded to the online magazine Estate Agency Today : “We are unsure as to what the basis is of this accusation. We strongly request anyone come to our office so we can show them the HIP reports we hold for the properties we are marketing.” I am not aware of any talk within the conveyancing industry of there being any repeated problem of acting for purchasers without Home Information Packs being made available.

The Legal Services Board has just issued a consultation paper on 18 November 2009 “ Alternative business structures: approaches to licensing ” The consultation, which has a huge impact on future of conveyancing, is to close 19 February 2010. The consultation and invites licensed conveyancers to submit comments either to the Legal Services Board direct or the Council of Licensed Conveyancers. The issues raised in the consultation are very important to the to the future of conveyancing and the licensed conveyancer industry as well as to the other branches of the legal profession such as conveyancing solicitors. It's not difficult to find a licensed conveyancer practices currently have non lawyer managers or have owners who are not lawyers. All these conveyancing firms will need to become licensed bodies (also known as Alternative Business Structures) regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers as one of a number of licensing authorities. The Consultation Paper sets o...

This was a conveyancing-related case where land was bought for developmental purposes, but the buyer later found a drainage pipe which very much limited the potential of the land. The pipe's existence had not been disclosed on the sale, because it was not known to the seller . Held: Under the National Conditions of Sale, it is the purchaser who takes the risk of there being easements unknown to the seller. The court clarified that a seller was not liable for damages for misrepresentation if he had taken reasonable steps to make known to the purchaser what he himself knew. Clause 14 of the Conditions attached to the Agreement for sale in this was is not an exclusion clause, but rather qualifies the sellers obligations. It did not therefore fall to be tested for reasonableness. In using the phrase 'not so far as the vendor is aware' replies to preliminary enquiries the court determined that that such a statement was akin to a representation that the seller’s conveyancing ...