Q and A’s regarding the Furness Building Society Conveyancing Panel from members of the public
I would like to know the reason why all UK lawyers are not on the Furness Building Society Solicitor panel?
Even though it may seem unfair for Furness Building Society to restrict who can act for them from the public’s or solicitor’s point of view, the other side of the coin is that the lenders are becoming ever more anxious and feel the necessary need to protect them from mortgage fraud and other illegal activities. As a result of this concern Furness Building Society are limiting their panel of approved conveyancing lawyers to a size that they are happy to control. The Furness Building Society lawyer panel is not the most exclusive of all lenders
My wife and I are refinancing our penthouse with Furness Building Society. We have a son 19 who lives with us. The solicitor on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel requested us to identify any adults other than ourselves who lives in the flat. Our lawyer has now e-mailed a document for our son to sign, giving up any rights in the event that the property is repossessed. I have a couple of concerns (1) Is this document specific to the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 4 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his rights to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Furness Building Society conveyancing panel solicitor is doing the right thing as it is established procedure for any occupier who is aged 17 or over to sign the necessary Consent Form, which is purely to state that any rights he has in the property are postponed and secondary to Furness Building Society .This is solely used to protect the Furness Building Society if the property were re-possessed so that in such circumstances, your son would be legally obliged to leave.
It does not impact your son’s right to inherit the apartment. Please note that if your son were to inherit and the mortgage in favour of Furness Building Society had not been discharged, he would be liable to take over the loan or pay it off, but other than that, there is nothing stopping him from keeping the property in accordance with your will or the rules of intestacy.
Having used your search tool I can't find the lawyer I was hoping to instruct as being on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel. My lawyer has said that they are on the Furness Building Society approved panel. How can I be sure given that they are not listed on your directory?
Not all firms are yet listed on our lender panel search tool which is still relatively new. Law firms are listing on a daily basis and it is probably the case that your lawyer is on the Furness Building Society conveyancing lawyer and you should probably take them at their word. Please do feel free to suggest that they completing their listing on our site as it would only cost them £1 a month to list themselves as being on the Furness Building Society solicitor panel.
I am considering applying for a Furness Building Society mortgage for purchase of a new build (under development) with 60% LTV. Is it compulsory to choose a solicitor on the conveyancing panel for Furness Building Society?
There is nothing to stop you using your solicitor but Furness Building Society will insist on their interests being represented by a firm on their conveyancing panel. There is greater potential for delays and confusion with an additional lawyer added to the mix, and it will undoubtedly be more expensive too.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as Furness Building Society do solicitors have to be pay a fee to be on the list of approved solicitors?
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.
I previously instructed online conveyancers located in London who are on the Furness Building Society solicitor panel. They are now charging me a separate fee of £135 for the legal aspects of 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 but plenty of firms include it on their overall fee.
Furness Building Society have agreed my mortgage in principle, my offer on house has been accepted, now what?
The estate agent will want to know who your solicitors are (make sure these solicitors are on the lenders panel). Call up Furness Building Society or your broker and complete any relevant paperwork. Furness Building Society will tell you what documents they want. Furness Building Society will instruct a valuer. The valuer will get in touch with the estate agent or seller to book an appointment. Once conducted (assuming no problems) it takes about week to get a mortgage offer. Furness Building Society will issue the offer to you and your lawyer. The transaction will then take it’s course according the nature and complexity of the conveyancing.