As the recession bites everywhere and reaches its lowest troughs, it would appear that no profession is safe from cutbacks, with 3,600 conveyancing solicitors recently being unceremoniously dropped from their advisory positions to two leading high street banks.
Following rival building society Abbey recent move, Britannia and the Co-Operative have let their panel of conveyancing solicitors go from their positions in a reaction to the recent recession.
The Law Society has asked the banks to reverse this decision, yet the banks claim that their investors had made it clear that without the move then they may withdraw mortgage fraud cover.
The move will have negative implementations for the customers of the building societies, as it means that they will have to go to another law firm to get their consultations on the conveyancing process in addition to affecting the conveyancing solicitors, who hail from all areas of the country, including Coventry.
The banks have had to consider the best interests of their investors and their customers, claims a spokesperson, and they simply could not afford to choose the panel’s jobs over mortgage fraud support.
Mortgage fraud can be a devastating criminal activity to the victims of such con artists and both the public and the banks can lose large amounts of money; the building society were not overjoyed to see the panel go, as they have put in some stirling work over the years, yet it was a decision made for the greater good.
As the banks offer the best cover at the price, the two building societies could not afford to go elsewhere, even though this may have led to the solicitors being kept on.
It is hoped that Abbey will at least reverse their decision and take back the 7,000 conveyancing solicitors that they dismissed earlier in the year; it is doubtless that the dismissed solicitors will find some other work at other companies, yet for those that do not have an immediate fallback plan, the coming months will be tight.
If you have a query or question about any element of the conveyancing process, or are in the market to buy or sell a property and would like some expert legal advice then don’t hesitate to contact a Coventry conveyancing solicitor for a professional consultation.
