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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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My fiance and I are hoping to buy a 1 bedroom apartment in Newcastle with a mortgage from Furness Building Society. We like our lawyer but Furness Building Society says he's not on their "panel". It seems we have little choice but to instruct one of the Furness Building Society panel firms or keep our solicitor and pay for one of their panel ones to represent them. This seems very unfair; Can we not simply insist that Furness Building Society use our lawyer?
Unfortunately,no. The mortgage offered to you is subject to its terms and conditions, one of which will be that lawyers will on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel. Until recently, most lenders had large numbers of law firms on their panels: a borrower could choose one for themselves, as long as it was on the lender's panel. The lender would then simply instruct the borrower's lawyers to act for the lender, too. You can use your lender's panel lawyers or you could borrow from another lender which does not restrict your choice. Another option that might be available is for your lawyer to apply to be on the conveyancing panel for Furness Building Society
Our solicitor is asking me for identification documents saying that this is part of his obligations as a conveyancer on the Furness Building Society Solicitor panel. This is news to me - can I refuse?
Due to Money Laundering Regulations your conveyancing lawyer is duty bound to confirm positively your identification when entering into a business relationship with you. It is a criminal offense if your lawyer not do this. If you do not provide ID early in the transaction the solicitor must refuse to act for you. It’s unlikely a lawyer will turn you away if you come to the first meeting without relevant ID but you will have to produce it at some point so you might as well bring it with you to the initial meeting so the lawyer can tick the ID verification box and start sorting out the conveyancing straight away. If you are getting a mortgage with Furness Building Society your lawyer also has to check ID documents to satisfy Furness Building Society
How do I search for a local solicitor on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 10 miles to meet the conveyancer.
Feel free to make use of 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 Furness Building Society solicitor panel.
I am considering applying for a Furness Building Society mortgage for purchase of a newly converted (under development) with 70% LTV. Is it compulsory to choose a solicitor on the conveyancing panel for Furness Building Society?
In theory, you could use a solicitor that is not on Furness Building Society conveyancing panel, but Furness Building Society would require one of their panel solicitors to be instructed to act in their interests, and you'd have to pay for this - so most people instruct a panel solicitor. It's also easier, as otherwise you'd have to deal with two solicitors for the same conveyancing matter.
Are all solicitors on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel overseen by the SRA?
As solicitors, in order to be on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel they would need to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Many lenders do allow licenced conveyancers on their panel in which case such firms would be regulated by the Council of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC).
We are getting a further advance on our mortgage from Furness Building Society as we wish to carry out a loft conversion to our home. Do we need to appoint a solicitor on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel to deal with the paperwork?
Furness Building Society do not ordinarily instruct firms on their conveyancing panel to deal with such a matter. If they did require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Furness Building Society panel
After much negotiation I have agreed a price on a house. My mortgage broker suggested a solicitor I paid an upfront payment of 200. 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.