Dumped by the Abbey – yet more

Posted by Justin on Mar 27, 2009 in Abaddons Musings, banks, conveyancing, lawyers, local, small towns | 0 comments 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
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Proof of identity

Posted by Justin on Mar 27, 2009 in Abaddons Musings, ID cards, lawyers, legal system | 0 comments 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...
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Dumped by the Abbey – further thoughts

Posted by Justin on Mar 25, 2009 in Abaddons Musings, conveyancing, lawyers, local, small towns | 0 comments I have today heard from another (fairly local) solicitor who has been dumped by the Abbey from its conveyancing panelThis 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...
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Trade guilds against HIPs?

Posted by Justin on Mar 7, 2009 in Abaddons Musings, conveyancing, HIPs, lawyers, legal system | 0 comments 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 competenceHowever, I do find that a well-prepared HIP (with, for...
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Oven-ready chips? Exchange-ready HIPs!

Posted by Justin on Feb 13, 2009 in Abaddons Musings, conveyancing, estate agents, HIPs, lawyers, PIQs | 0 comments In an earlier post, I commented that the latest “improvements” to HIPs would not in fact make them more useful. What is needed (IMO) is a cultural change, so that sellers, agents and solicitors accepted that, however badly-thought-out (by civil servants and poloticians) HIPs are, the property professionals can make them work and use them to benefit buyers and sellersIf, instead of...
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Tenterden Pudding Club

Posted by Justin on Feb 11, 2009 in Abaddons Musings, accountants, estate agents, lawyers, lunch, Tenterden | 0 comments Not as interesting as the name implies … the so-called “club” is simply an informal monthly lunchtime meeting of various local business people – mainly solicitors, accountants, estate agents, bank managers, etc We meet on the last Friday of each month, so the next meeting is on 27 February, at No 75 in Tenterden High Street at 1pm. We usually have a one course meal and a...
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