Buying a flat - lawyers questions

From what I understand now (having read a bit more) the solicitors need to cover their own backs because they get criminal charges if they are seen to aid in money laundering (even by negligence). So they will play detective to be safe their clients will not drag them down. The building society will have their own checks in place. I do not think the lawyers are acting on behalf of someone else (eg the Inland revenue or the land registry), it's just for them.
 
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It's just all part of the world we live in today. We're a more rootless, transient society with less personal interaction between us and the institutions that serve us. A gentleman's word is no longer enough.
 
They need to do due diligence on who you are, where your money came from and if you are a cash buyer, that you actually have the money.

Be very careful when transferring funds. There has been a lot of law firms targeted with hacking. Typically the hacker intercepts emails and gets you to pay money to a different account.

I was very nearly the victim of this a few weeks ago and would have lost nearly £70k.
 
Its the law in the UK. You have to show where the money comes from. You have to show proof of ID. Simples.
 
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This is a great way to keep tabs on your property:

In the above case, its likely that the Land Register and probably the solicitors involved in the fraudulent transfer will be paying out. But the "owner" loses his house as it appears that the "sale" went from him, to fraudster and fraudster to current owner.

The above service would have flagged the original transaction.
 
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one repossession i bought 8 years ago 6 working days in total it took from bank accepting my offer to me having the keys .
On transferring the cash to solicitors the final thing i signed was the money laundering statement . Solicitor just asked were i had got the money from i said were from she wrote it down i signed it . I asked her if she wanted proof of bank statements she said no need because if you have lied its between you and the tax man .
2years ago bought another house used same solicitor and basically same straight forward transaction no proof requested just under 5 weeks to get keys
 
The money laundering regulations - The MLR 2017 require the conveyancer to do suitable checks on their clients, and as part of this, conveyancers will follow the guidance of their regulator - the CLC (Council for Licenced Conveyancers) and have risk assessments for how they will carry out their checks - which could be 'x' amount of month bank statements or other such information depending on the client.

A foreign accent or name may raise suspicions.
 
gas112 said:
I asked her if she wanted proof of bank statements she said no need because if you have lied its between you and the tax man .
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Doesn't the solicitor have to undertake checks to protect herself? I.e. a little more than asking where the money came from after the deal has been done?

How can a conveyance be completed that quickly? Did you purchase without asking any questions?

Blup
 
blup said:
Doesn't the solicitor have to undertake checks to protect herself? I.e. a little more than asking where the money came from after the deal has been done?

How can a conveyance be completed that quickly? Did you purchase without asking any questions?

Blup
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Think the rule is they have to be satisfied so the checks would be dependent on that . She knew who i was and I know a few of her family members so she knew i was legit .
The six day house had been owned by a family member of mine 7 years earlier . So as it was a cash purchase no mortgage company or bank to keep happy so i got no checks done on it at all no survey or searches . And when it was owned by family member i had fitted the heating my mate had rewired the house i had all the G` tee certificates for the double glazing .
2nd house same again no mortgage was right opposite me and i had fitted the heating in that another mate had done the rewire. Same again got all double glazing etc certs directly off the family. I knew exactly what the house was like having known the previous owners since i was 14 so yet again no surveys or searches done why should i pay someone hundreds for something i already know or would cost a lot less to fix . The 5 weeks was during covid and should have been 4 weeks but there was a hitch on other solicitors end about whose account money was going into on completion which added a week
 
I'm currently filling in Land Registry forms myself, I'm not using a solicitor - just a simple bit of land in my case. But I can tell you that on the forms they state that if I'm applying directly then I need to provide the LR with forms. But if I was using a solicitor then the LR trusts the solicitor to do the checks and don't need to see anything.

So... supplying your docs to your solicitor is effectively a replacement for supplying them to the LR. It's absolutely normal and you can't avoid it. If they already knew you they probably wouldn't care. But if you're a stranger they'll definitely want proof of everything.

But... why buy a flat?! Ever-rising lease fees, dodgy maintenance fees, neighbour issues etc. Haven't you heard the countless horror stories? If not then get googling. I wouldn't touch anything that wasn't freehold myself, I'd rather just rent than supposedly "buy" a lease.
 
ReganAndCarter said:
It's just all part of the world we live in today. We're a more rootless, transient society with less personal interaction between us and the institutions that serve us. A gentleman's word is no longer enough.
Click to expand...

OOI, can you tell me what year you think your country had no crooks in it?
 
Didn't think you'd answer it's what you best but happy to ask silly questions.
You know quite well crime is out of control to what it was in the fifties and sixties.
 
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