Buying or selling your home should be as simple and stress free as possible. Unfortunately, conveyancing is far from straightforward and covers many different legal aspects. Although it is possible to do yourself, the element of risk involved is huge unless you are specifically trained in the field. For this reason, you should always consult the experts. This article aims to give you a better understanding about what conveyancing is, and the pitfalls that surround it.
In order to understand the pitfalls of conveyancing, we must first understand what convayancing means. The Law Dictionary defines ‘conveyancing’ as:
“A term including both the science and act of transferring titles to real estate from one man to another. Conveyancing is that part of the lawyer’s business which relates to the alienation and transmission of property and other rights from one person to another, and to the framing of legal documents intended to create, define, transfer, or extinguish rights. It therefore includes the investigation of the title to land, and the preparation of agreements, wills, articles of association, private statutes operating as conveyances, and many other instruments in addition to conveyances properly so called.”
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Unfortunately, finding a conveyancing service that you can trust is not as straightforward as it sounds. In fact, as recently as 2010, Orient Solicitors of Leicester were found to be a fraudulent conveyancing firm and Acorn Solicitors were illegally cloned in the hope of tricking potential clients.
Although the number of non-fraudulent conveyancing firms is numerous, The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has recently published a study that found that conveyancing claims now represent about 50 per cent of the value of professional indemnity claims arising against firms.
It also notes that, due to an economic downturn, the conveyancing market has also experienced a downturn and that payments made into the ‘compensation fund’ by conveyancing firms has increased from £9.23 million in 2008 to £21.2 million in 2010. Due to this, it is more important than ever to find a conveyancing firm that is professional, trustworthy and efficient.
For this reason, you should make sure that you select a conveyancing service that is part of the Conveyancing Association. In doing so, companies will ensure that their conveyancing services are committed to:
- Increasing customer satisfaction levels in all aspects of conveyancing.
- Making services swift and efficient in order to save time and hassle.
- Creating a trusted community of conveyancers.
Remember that not all conveyancing companies are fraudulent, and that many of them are trustworthy and reliable. As ever, it is important to research your chosen company first. Ensure that they are a member of the Conveyancing Association, and ask them for a quote.
As members of the Conveyancing Association, they should be professional and reliable. Make sure that you don’t take any risks in completing the conveyancing of your new property.
