Frequently asked questions relating to the Furness Building Society Solicitor Panel from members of the public
My husband and I are first time buyers. Within the last couple of days our conveyancer has forwarded the sale agreement to sign with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Furness Building Society have this afternoon contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. What do we do from here?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender.
In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Accreditation Scheme. Your solicitors should contact Furness Building Society and see if they can apply for membership of the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Furness Building Society will instruct their own solicitors to act. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it will likely delay the transaction as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
We are due to exchange on the purchase a house but as a result of damage from the recent storms I have agreed compensation from the seller of £3k approx by way of a reduction in the price. This was going to be dealt with as part of the conveyancing process but my mortgage company Furness Building Society will not agree to this. Why was Furness Building Society even consulted?
Your lawyer being on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel is duty bound to inform Furness Building Society of any changes to the purchase price. If you were to refuse your lawyers to disclose the reduction to Furness Building Society then they would have to discontinue acting for you and Furness Building Society.
Your search tool is useful but there are many lawyers listed near Manchester on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel. It would be a lot more helpful if you could recommend a specific firm on the conveyancing panel for Furness Building Society ?
We are not in the business of recommending one firm above another as the right firm for you depends on where your priorities lie. For example you may require a local firm with local knowledge or you might be looking for the low cost conveyancing. Before you appoint your lawyer we advise you to speak to two or three of the firms listed to gain comfort as to which one is right for you..
The firm that I recently instructed on my house acquisition in Hendon has suddenly shut down. They were on acting for me because I needed a firm on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel and my family lawyer was not. I paid them £200 on account. What should be my next steps?
If you have an estate agent involved then let them know immediately so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to reasons beyond your control. Most sellers would be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to help
I had instructed online solicitors based in London who are on the Furness Building Society solicitor panel. They are now charging me a separate fee of £195 for dealing with the Furness Building Society mortgage. Is this a supplemental conveyancing fee specified by Furness Building Society?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitors can charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by Furness Building Society but by your lawyers. Some firms on the Furness Building Society will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
We expect to receive a DIP from Furness Building Society this week so we know how much we could potentially offer as otherwise we only have online calculators to go by (which aren't taking into account credit checks etc).Do the Furness Building Society recommend a solicitor on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel, or is it better to find our own lawyer
You will need to appoint solicitors independently although you'll need to choose one on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel. The solicitor represents both you and the Furness Building Society through the process.
My ex -wife’s name is on the Furness Building Society mortgage of my property but not on the land registry. The apartment was transferred to me on our divorce many years ago by way of a sealed court order. Does my ex still have a say on the sale even though the land registry showing the property in my name alone? Will I be required to take her name of the Furness Building Society mortgage in order to sell?
In terms of the Furness Building Society mortgage, it is unusual that your ex-wife’s name remains on the mortgage but not on the title. It is conceivable that this is an oversight on the part of your conveyancers to ensure that her name was removed or even an administrative error on the part of Furness Building Society in failing to update their data. In any event, it should cause difficulty providing her name no longer appears on the Land Registry title and you have a court order ordering that the property is transferred to you.
