Frequently asked questions relating to the Marsden Building Society Conveyancing Panel from members of the public
My partner and I are novices when it comes to buying a property. Within the 48 hours our conveyancer has sent a preliminary report and documents to look through with the expectation that exchange is imminent. Marsden Building Society have this evening contacted us to inform me that there is now an issue as our conveyancer is not on their approved list of lawyers. What do we do from here?
If you are buying a property with the assistance 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 Quality Scheme. Your property lawyers should contact Marsden Building Society and see if they can apply for membership of the Marsden Building Society conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Marsden Building Society will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Marsden Building Society conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you are adding another lawyer into the mix.
My wife and I intend to remortgage our penthouse with Marsden Building Society. We have a son 18 who lives with us. The solicitor on the Marsden Building Society conveyancing panel requested us to identify anyone over the age of 17 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 flat is repossessed. I have two questions (1) Is this form unique to the Marsden Building Society conveyancing panel as he never had to sign this form when we remortgaged 5 years ago (2) Does our son by signing this giving up his rights to inherit the property?
First, rest assured that your Marsden 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 Marsden Building Society .This is solely used to protect the Marsden 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 Marsden 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.
Are there any apps to help find a local solicitor on the Marsden Building Society conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 10 kilometers to meet the lawyer.
You can use the find a conveyancing panel tool on this page. Please choose the lender and your location and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest you. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the Marsden Building Society solicitor panel.
Please explain the implications if my solicitor is expelled from the Marsden Building Society Solicitor panel prior to completion?
The first thing to point out is that, 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.
Is the case that all CQS (Conveyancing Quality Scheme) solicitors on the Marsden Building Society conveyancing panel?
It is true that some banks and building societies now use CQS as the starting point for Panel approval such as HSBC and Santander. The Law Society’s CQS accreditation however gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. That being said,the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a pre-requisite for firms wishing to join their approved list of firms.
I am selling my apartment. I had a double glazing fitted in month 6 but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, Marsden Building Society are being difficult. The solicitor who is on the Marsden Building Society conveyancing panel is saying indemnity insurance will be fine but Marsden Building Society are insisting on a building regulation certificate. Why do Marsden Building Society have a conveyancing panel of they don’t accept advice from them?
It is probably the case that Marsden Building Society have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why Marsden Building Society may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing correctly and safely installed. It merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.
My brother and I are buying a terraced house in Hendon. Conveyancing solicitors in Hendon are about to beretained. My agentrecommended that we double-check that the conveyancing practitioner in Hendon is on the Marsden Building Society list of approved conveyancing firms. Surely I don't need to do this, do I?
A limited percentage of Hendon conveyancing practices are on the Marsden Building Society conveyancing panel. Use the above search tool to search for a Hendon conveyancing solicitor on the on the Marsden Building Society solicitors pane.