Who owns the conveyancing file?
“The latest wave of lenders’ litigation against conveyancing solicitors has seen their professional indemnity insurers adopt a variety of tactics in order to suppress lenders’ claims. One method has been to refuse to provide (incriminating) parts of a conveyancing file by asserting duties of confidentiality and privilege that the conveyancing solicitor owes to the borrower client. Given a conveyancing file is to be treated as if it is jointly owned by the lender and borrower client, the rights of the parties to the full file have recently been tested by the Courts.”
Full article text (available with Lexology Subscription) Lenders' claims: rights of access to conveyancing files and overcoming the downside of Sawali
A recent high court decision in the case of Mortgage Express vs Sawali means that an applicant on a mortgage form has effectively signed away their lawyers rights to legal professional privilege.
“This decision makes it easier for lenders to obtain copies of entire files to see whether solicitors are in breach of the standard Council of Mortgage Lenders Conditions.”
Please click on the links below for an analysis of the changes:
An independent study commissioned by the SRA, conducted by consultants Charles River Associates (CRA), and published in October confirms that conveyancing accounts for 50% of all PII claims in the legal sector and that 50% of these are Lender driven.
For more information about lender claims figures read the full report here
Bradford and Bingley is taking legal action against solicitors who, it alleges did not comply with CML Lender Handbook Requirements. The bank believes that its potential losses will include the costs of repossession if borrowers default and the shortfall on its mortgage advance, as in most cases the value of the loan far outweighs that of the property.
For more information please see the press reports in both the The Law Gazette and the Financial Times
LENDERmonitor tracks new HSBC Part 2 Requirements - 10 Jan 2012
CML Launches New Service for UK Conveyancers - 10 Dec 2010
New insurance-backed search is available from the CML website - 7 Dec 2010
Conveycentric announces LENDERmonitor distribution partnership with Landmark Information Group - 6 Dec 2010
PYV Legal announces partnership with LENDERmonitor - 24 April 2010
'Back To Square One' published by The Council of Licenced Conveyancers (CLC) - 07 April 2010
SLC suggest conveyancers use LENDERmonitor - 01 March 2010
