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approved by Furness BS
Ready to buy a new home? Failing to check that a lawyer is on the Furness BS list of approved solicitors can put your transaction at risk of delay or failure.
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How does my firm apply to be on the Furness Building Society Conveyancing Panel? How can my firm be reinstated onto the Furness Building Society Conveyancing Panel?Find an Approved Solicitor on the Furness Building Society Conveyancing Panel
Furness Building Society Conveyancing Panel Example Support Desk Enquires
Is there a reason why all UK lawyers are not on the Furness Building Society Conveyancing panel?
Furness Building Society and other lenders normally restrict either the type or the number of conveyancing firms on their approved list of lawyers. A common example of such restriction(s) being that a firm must have two or more partners. In addition to restricting the type of firm, some have decided to limit the number of firms they use to represent them. You should note that Furness Building Society have no responsibility for the quality of advice provided by any member of Furness Building Society Conveyancer Panel. Mortgage fraud was a key driver in the rationalisation of conveyancing panels a few years ago and whilst there are differing views about the extent of solicitor involvement in some of that fraud. Statistics from the Land Registry reveal that thousands of law firms only carry out one or two conveyances a year. Those supporting conveyancing panel cuts ask why law firms should have the right to be on a Lender panel when clearly, Conveyancing is not their speciality? To put it another way; would you want a conveyancing solicitor to represent you if you were charged with a crime; probably not.
We are approaching an exchange and my mum and dad having sent the 10% deposit to my lawyer. I am now advised that as the deposit has not come from me my lawyer needs to make a notification to my lender Furness Building Society. I am advised that, being on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel and acting on their behalf he must inform Furness Building Society if the balance of the mortgage advance is not just from me. I disclosed to the bank about my parent’s contribution when I applied for the home loan so is it really necessary for this now to be an issue?
Your lawyer is obliged to check with Furness Building Society to make sure that they are aware that the balance of the purchase price is not from your own funds. Your solicitor can only report this to Furness Building Society if you agree, failing which, your lawyer must cease to continue acting.
Do all the licensed conveyancers and solicitor practices listed on your search have online case tracking as I understood that this was a condition of being on the Furness Building Society solicitor panel?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders or BSA do not require online case tracking. Some law firms operate such technology and some don't.
What happens if my lawyer’s firm is expelled from the Furness Building Society Conveyancing panel before the moving date as agreed at exchange of contracts?
First, this is very unlikely to happen. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have ti instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by the regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit for a fee.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Furness Building Society do solicitors have to be pay a fee to be on the conveyancing panel?
We are not aware of any lender fees to be on their panel although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
Is there a list of Furness Building Society panel conveyancers on the Building Society Association’s Website?
No. There is no such tool on the Council of Mortgage Lenders or Building Society Association websites. Very few lenders make their panel listings available online.
I recently had an offer accepted on a house. My mortgage broker recommended their conveyancers I paid an upfront payment of 225. Soon after the conveyancers contacted me to say that they were not on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel. Am I right in thinking that I should be due a refund?
You should be able to recover this from the law firm if they were not on the Furness Building Society panel. They should have asked at the outset which lender you were obtaining a mortgage with. An important lesson to readers of this site is to check that the lawyers are on the appropriate lender panel.