Dumped by the Abbey - an update

Following representations made by the Law Society to the Abbey, it appears that the preremptory letter issued to 6,000+ firms last wek is part of an exercise to invite firms to apply to joing a combined panel for the Abbey and Alliance + Leicester. If this is true, the original letter was extraordinarily cack-handed, as it gave no hint of this. It may be that the Abbey is finding a way to climb down with grace. We shall see ...

Dumped by the Abbey - yet more

The Abbey's draconian step of removing some 6,000 solicitors from its conveyancing panel for mortgage work - without warning or any specified reason except low volume of transactions - is getting some media publicity

Proof of identity

When acting for clients on transactions (eg: house purchases or sales), solicitors are obliged to check their clients' identities. It is not an integral part of the legal work we set out to do, but an obligation imposed on us under anti-money laundering legislation. It is an extra cost that we must absorb, and an extra risk we must accept, but we are not given any option. Failing to comply will result in us being sent to prison, it is treated that seriously.

The Land Registry has recently tightened up its own requirements. When applying to register a land transaction, we must either confirm that we are satisfied as to the identities of all the various parties (whether they are our clients or not) unless represented by another conveyancer, or we must tell the Land Registry we have not checked the identity of (say) an unrepresented seller; the Land Registry will then require that person to provide proof of identity before registering the transaction. As that is no good at all if our client has already paid for the land, this effectively means that we need to check the identity of non-represented parties as well, in order to protect our clients' interests.

Today, we had a call from someone who did not want us to act in his particular transaction (buying a piece of farmland to extend his garden - which raises planning issues of its own), but wanted us to verify his identity, to satisfy the Land Registry requirements. We said, "No" - we are not in the business of verifying people's identities; we are not trained to spot a fake passport; the fee we would want to charge to cover the time and opportunity cost involved, let alone the risk, would be unacceptably high; it would be a high-risk, lose-lose situation.

We suggested he went to the local Land Registry to verify his identity, but apparently not all Land Registries are set up to carry out the verification that they themselves require - yet they had glibly told the enquirer to "go to any solicitor with your passport - it is only a case of filling in a form" - bloody cheek!

Libraries - it's about the books

Why are councils closing libraries or ignoring the books?

Let's start with suggesting some principles - challenge them, if you want

1 Reading is a Good Thing and therefore to be encouraged

2 Reading books (as well as other things, such as newspapers, blogs, instructions from above and ASBOs) is a Good Thing and therefore to be encouraged

3 Reading books is, perhaps, an area where quantity matters almost as much as quality - range matters

4 That said, quality matters, too, and people should be encouraged to try tough books as well as reading what they know they like - again, range matters

5 An educated or well-read population can create a better democracy and society than an ignorant one

6 All the qbove are assisted by the continued existence of well-funded and well-staffed local libraries that focus on books

7 'A library is supposed to be about the things you can't find in a ... station bookshop as well as the things you can. You don't always know what you want until you see it' -Christopher Hawtree

What point am I missing? Why are libraries in peril, when they should be cherished?

Dumped by the Abbey - further thoughts

I have today heard from another (fairly local) solicitor who has been dumped by the Abbey from its conveyancing panel

This is particularly harsh for him and his clients, as he has 4 cases going through at present, and suddenly the Abbey is disrupting everything and causing chaos and extra expense. This does not surprise me - the Abbey just does not seem to care - but it has firmed up my decision to protest: I don't think the Abbey will change its mind, but at least I can give them a piece of my mind!

They do have impeccable timing: just when the country is totally disgusted at big financial institutions behaving selfishly, so the Abbey (part of the Santander group) is throwing its weight around, causing inconvenience and extra cost to its customers and doing its best to damage local businesses. It seems to be yet another example of a big organisation concentrating on process for its own benefit, rather then on consumer benefit - and that is putting the best interpretation on things

No doubt more to follow ...

Another test

Third time lucky, I hope!

Beards and beer

Articles extolling the eco-credentials of beards and local beer - I must be doing something right!

Chamber of Commerce Spring Hop

Received from David Caulfield:
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Spring is here (nearly) and there’s no better time to get everybody dancing at a live music event. The ‘Spring Hop’ in St Michaels, Tenterden is to raise money for the Kent Air Ambulance and the Motor Neurone Disease Association – to be split equally between the two charities. There will be ten musicians and singers performing who are giving their services free of charge (not even expenses). The music is 50s, 60s and 70s. Some of the people taking part were in the hit pop group ‘The Dooleys’.

We are aiming for 200+ local people to attend and we will produce a program clearly listing all businesses that have contributed to the event. We will also mention everybody’s name on the night.

Here are some answers to some of the questions that will have immediately occurred to you (I can read your mind);

Q: Have we done this before?

A: Yes, last year we raised £660 for the Kent Air Ambulance and Demelza House.

Q: What are you aiming for this year?

A: We are determined to raise over £1000.

Q: Have you registered with both charities for this year’s event?

A: Yes.

Q: You haven’t told me the date.

A: Oh, it’s the 2^nd May. Here’s the rest of the details.

Spring Hop featuring Group 66 and members of The Dooleys.

2^nd May 2009.

Venue: St Michaels Village Hall, Grange Road, St Michaels, Tenterden.

Doors open 7.00pm for 7.30pm start – until late.

All proceeds to be split evenly between the Kent Air Ambulance and The Motor Neurone Disease Association.

All are welcome. If you would like tickets, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Many thanks.

David Caulfield: Mobile tel: +44 7770 483183
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So, if you want tickets, phone David

Dumped!

On Friday (in common, apparently, with a lot of other sole practitioner lawyers and low-volume conveyancers) I received a "Dear John" letter from Abbey National (or "the Abbey", as they like to be called but have not bothered to change their name to).

They have unceremoniously and without warning "dumped" me - I am, with immediate effect, no longer on their conveyancing panel for mortgage work.

No real explanation - I just don't rock their boat, apparently

I will try to engage in a dialogue with them, but don't hold out much hope

I have some theories as to what is going on, and will publish them here over time

Don't get HIP-ripped

We provide high-quality HIPs (from HIPAG) at less than £275 - including the PIQ with help from us - so why spend £400+ getting one from another source? Phone Sam(antha) or Anne on 01580 767100 for details and a chat

ANOTHER charity shop in Tenterden?

It looks as though the former Cardfair shop in Sayers Lane, Tenterden, is going to be yet another charity shop - British Heart Foundation this time

While I don't particularly rate card shops, having yet another charity shop seems to be overkill

Blooming banks!

See BBC news item (thanks, Laurence for your Tweet) - I'm glad I'm with HSBC; so far, at least, they seem to be behaving as normally and as helpfully as banks ever do!

The White Dog at Ewhurst Green

A truly excellent meal yesterday evening at the White Dog, now run by Bill and Jacqui Tipples - gorgeous Rye Bay scallops to start, and pork saltimbocca as a main course; truly excellent food!
The beer wasn't bad, either: Fuller's London Pride and a well-kept pint of Harvey's Sussex bitter

Trade guilds against HIPs?

Entrenched interests always fight change - see Seth's Blog - which may be why so many vested interests undermine Home Information Packss (apart from the fact that their implementation was, and remains, crap, of course!)
In addition, those who are merely competent will resist change, because it undermines their competence
However, I do find that a well-prepared HIP (with, for instance, official rather than personal search results) combined with a carefully completed comprehensive set of property information forms does enable a very swift transition to exchange-ready status - assuming there are no fundamental problems with the property or its title, of course - well-packaged rubbish is still rubbish

The Bull at Sissinghurst

I visited the Bull in Sissinghurst yesterday evening. The new owners have spruced it up nicely, there is a good, friendly, busy atmosphere and the food is of very good quality and well-priced: whitebait followed by lamb cutlets at £8.95 is hard to beat, and the quality of the gambas I had (at £7.95) was ecellent!

A couple of good pints of Harveys Sussex Bitter went down a treat, too!

When it's worth paying for it ...

Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal