Furness Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

As is the case with the Law Society the Council of Licensed Conveyancers has begun discussions with lenders and their representative bodies to see whether and how the risks that lenders wish to mitigate could be addressed through the regulatory framework rather than via ad hoc arrangements that can differ from lender to lender. We expect that that the CLC have been in touch with lenders such as Furness Building Society in recent years.

You might expect Furness Building Society via their Part 2 obligations to address this but the Handbook makes no mention on time frames. Do look at the Terms of Furness Building Society’s Conveyancing Panel Appointment that you are bound by. For many lender's these Terms include a provision along the following lines: ‘To keep us informed of the reasons for any delay in your being able to send the title deeds and documents we require to us within 3 months of completion or evidence of proof of registration within that period. (We will send reminders if the deeds have not been received but will not acknowledge receipt of deeds’ It is important to keep Furness Building Society informed. Law firms can often compound their problems by not communicating with the lender when there is a delay or problem.

When a solicitor is acting for both Furness Building Society and borrower there is potential for conflicts to arise. You owe duties to both clients. All information received by you from your client is confidential and cannot be disclosed without the client’s consent. In the situation you find yourself in if the purchaser will not consent to the information being passed on to the lender the solicitor must cease to act for the Furness Building Society and it may well be prudent you to cease to act for the purchaser as well. You can not tell the Furness Building Society the reason for termination of the retainer over and above the fact that a conflict has arisen. The fact that you can no longer act should alert even the most somnambulistic of lenders that something is wrong with the borrower and/or purchase. The fact that you have disinstructed yourself should not affect your Furness Building Society conveyancing panel status.

Furness Building Society approved panel lawyers have to comply with the Part II instructions relating to Transfer of Equity. These are set out in Section 16.3. First, your firm must approve the form of Transfer of Equity (which should be in the Land Registry's standard form) and, if Furness Building Society require, the deed of covenant on their behalf. You will need to check Furness Building Society CML Part 2 conditions to see if Furness Building Society have standard forms of transfer and deed of covenant. Please note that this requirement can change from one transaction to another so do check! Second,When drafting or approving a transfer, you should bear in mind that: although the transfer should state that it is subject to the mortgage (identified by date and parties), it need give no details of the terms of the mortgage; the transfer need not state the amount of the mortgage debt. If it does, the figure should include both principal and interest at the date of completion, which you must check ; there should be no statement that all interest has been paid to date. Further obligations are set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook which have to be followed by all firms on the Furness Building Society conveyancing panel

Your insurance brokers are your best port of call to address this question. The chances are that on the basis that you have not been removed for fraud or negligence reasons that there will be little or no impact. The main reason why a firm would be removed off of a lender panel is due to low volume of conveyancing cases although there may be a number of criteria for Furness Building Society solicitor panel membership. Please remember that it is always important that you complete your insurance forms accurately.

You need to get in touch with Furness Building Society to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook includes an explicit inquiry for banks to cite who to contact to obtain standard documents. Furness Building Society in their Part 2’s state: It helps to quote your Furness Building Society conveyancing panel number.