Two significant points of interest
arose in the course of a property purchase during the last few days - one
topical and the other - well, incredible.
Client buying residential property
with the assistance of a mortgage from High Street Bank represented in this
particular transaction by associated firm because we don’t deal with
residential property.
Father and his son are occupiers of
the property, but not parties to any of the transactions. Bank, very reasonably, requires signed forms
of disclaimer of equitable interests.
There’s some confusion about whether
or not the two occupiers are required to seek independent advice but rather
than debate the point where time is pressing, the two head off to another law
firm where they are told “we can’t help, because you are not our clients”.
An approach to another law firm, another
established conveyancing practice, elicits a “we would like to help but we are
sorry we can’t”.
They take a little more trouble to
explain that they don’t get many requests for this type of exercise now and in
view of the amount of time required to comply with regulatory and other requirements,
have decided as a matter of policy not to do it. It isn’t cost-effective or worthwhile from a
risk perspective.
I find that entirely
understandable. These are the sorts of
reasons why we choose not to deal with any residential conveyancing.
These were two firms that have
established practices in that field, choosing not to undertake the particular
task for similar reasons. This is for
privately paying clients who, within reason, were not in a position to haggle -
they just wanted the job done.
Trite point but this doesn’t augur
well for the survival of poorly paid legal activities in various guises.
Not much to say about the bank in all
that? Well, don’t despair because the
bank ultimately stole the show.
How? Breathtakingly!
My associate did all the necessary
and submitted the report on title to the bank and then made arrangements for
completion with the seller’s London lawyers, subject to arrival of funds.
Whilst waiting for the mortgage
monies to arrive, he then took a call from the purchasing client to report that
she had the mortgage proceeds of more than £¼m in her personal bank account, courtesy of the
lending bank.
The bank’s explanation? That’s the procedure - the monies go to the
customer who then passes them on to the solicitor.
The solicitor of course then
completes the transaction, obtains the documents of title and is able to
complete the bank’s security which protects its investment...
We only act for the good guys, of
course, but in other circumstances that bank might have been lucky that the
telephone call didn’t come from a luxury hotel or cruise ship in the
Caribbean.
It’s good to see that things have
tightened up during the last three years.
