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Ready to buy a new home? Failing to check that a lawyer is on the Foundation 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 Foundation Home Loans Conveyancing Panel? How can my firm be reinstated onto the Foundation Home Loans Conveyancing Panel?Find an Approved Solicitor on the Foundation Home Loans Conveyancing Panel
FAQs for the Foundation Home loans Conveyancing Panel
My husband and I are first time buyers. Within the last couple of days our solicitor has forwarded the sale agreement to sign with a detailed report in anticipation of exchanging contracts shortly. Foundation Home loans have this evening contacted us to inform me that they have now hit a problem as our solicitor is not on their conveyancing panel. Is this a problem?
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 Foundation Home loans and see if they can apply for membership of the Foundation Home loans conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable Foundation Home loans will instruct their own lawyers to represent them. You don't have to instruct a firm on the Foundation Home loans conveyancing panel and you may continue to use your own solicitors, in which case it will likely add costs, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I do hope you can help me. My solicitor is advising me that he has to order a Local Authority search because the firm are on the Foundation Home loans conveyancing panel. The searches cost a lot of money. Can this be avoided?
Unfortunately both you and your lawyer have little choice here. As you are taking a mortgage with Foundation Home loans your lawyer has to comply with their conditions as set out in their version of the CML Conveyancing Handbook. Your lawyer would have previously signed the Terms and Conditions of Foundation Home loans’s conveyancing panel appointment which obliges them to follow the CML Handbook requirements last updated Foundation Home loans. even if you were a cash buyer you would be ill advised not to carry out a local authority search.
What tools are available to find a local solicitor on the Foundation Home loans conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 20 miles to meet the solicitor.
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 Foundation Home loans solicitor panel.
My aunt passed away last year and as sole heir and executor was left the property. The house had a relatively small loan remaining of approximately £8000. I want to transfer the title deeds into my name whilst I re-mortgage to Foundation Home loans , pay off the mortgage etc. Is this possible?
If you intend to re-mortgage then Foundation Home loans will insist on your using a conveyancer on the Foundation Home loans conveyancing panel. Here is link to the Land Registry online guidance around what to do when a property owner dies. This will help you to understand the registration process behind changing the details re the registered title. in your case it would appear that you are effectively purchasing the property from the estate. Your Foundation Home loans conveyancing panel solicitor pays the new mortgage money into the estate, the estate pays off the old mortgage, the charge is released and you become the owner and the Foundation Home loans mortgage is registered as a charge at the Land Registry.
Can I be sure that the solicitor on the Foundation Home loans panel is any good?
Getting recommendations is a good start. Before you go ahead check if they offer a no sale no fee offer. Also you often get what you pay for - a firm which quotes more will often provide a better service than one which is cheap as chips. We would always suggest that you speak with the solicitor carrying out your transaction
I am buying a property where the roof has a solar panel. Solicitors conducting should look into this right? Will my lender Foundation Home loans be concerned
As your lender is Foundation Home loans your lawyer must to check the Foundation Home loans conveyancing instructions contained in the Part of CML Handbook for Foundation Home loans . The CML Handbook contains minimum requirements for solar panel roof-space leases, and solicitors are required to report to Foundation Home loans where a lease does not meet these requirements. The requirements relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales. Requirements for Scotland are due in the near future.
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 Foundation Home loans 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 Foundation Home loans 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.
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Transfer of Equity for Foundation Home loansPlease note that Lexsure Ltd is in no way associated with nor affiliated with Lexsure Solicitors