Adam & Company International Conveyancing Panel Information

The Law Society of Scotland has suggested that solicitors should check their lender panel status prior to accepting client instructions to act. The advice is lender-agnostic as it does not relate specifically to solicitors on the Adam & Company International conveyancing panel. The recommendation arises from the practice of a number of mortgage lenders who remove solicitors from their panels without prior notice as part of their panel management system, which can lead to some solicitors discovering this only once instructed. This is sensible advice as a client finding out midway through a transaction that their lawyer is not on the approved lender panel is very frustrating and can lead to complaints. Many online consumer forums contain posts where someone is complaining about finding that their lawyer is not on a lender conveyancing panel. Such forums include mumsnet.com

One might ordinarily expect Adam & Company International via their Part Two obligations to address this but the Handbook is silent on time frames. Do look at the Terms of Adam & Company International’s Conveyancing Panel Appointment that you previously signed. For many lender's these Terms have a clause 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 Adam & Company International updated. Law firms can often compound their problems by not communicating with the lender when there is a delay or problem.

What you should do largely depends on the reason that your firm has been removed off the Adam & Company International conveyancing panel. The top 3 reasons are as follows:

1. lack of transactions
2. the lawyer is a sole practitioner
3. as part of the HSBC panel reduction.

In these three circumstances it is unlikely that you would expected to take any action. Disclosure and other compliance considerations are more likely to be relevant if the reason for removal is due to breaches of lender requirements or allegations of fraud or negligence. Whether the reasoning should trigger a disclosable 'material' breach will depend on the firm and the circumstances around possible failures to comply with the SRA Authorisation Rules, and the SRA will judge each case on its own merits. Factors such as the detriment or risk of detriment to clients, the scale of the issue and overall impact on the firm will need to be considered in deciding whether a failure is 'material'. As the compliance officer you will need systems to identify patterns of breaches. Even if you don't consider there to be regulatory implications the firms COFA should give some thought to whether she/he needs to take any action as result of being removed from the Adam & Company International conveyancing panel.

During 2013, 114 sections of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook P2 were changed by Adam & Company International. Some changes are more important than others but as a firm on the Adam & Company International conveyancing panel you are of course obliged to comply with individual lender requirements, as set out in Part II of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. Locktons have recently pointed out in an article that non-compliance with Part 2 requirements account for a number of high value claims, and it is therefore important to be aware of any particularly onerous terms that an individual lender may impose.

Remember: CML requirements are not guidelines; they are the lender client’s instructions.

It would be advisable to provide details of the date of removal, information on the reason for removal, date of appeal and any reason given for reinstatement. This should not negatively affect your application but gives the CQS team a complete picture of what has occured.

You need to get in touch with Adam & Company International to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook incorporates an explicit inquiry for lenders to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents. Adam & Company International in their Part 2’s state: It is likely that you will need to quote the firm’s Adam & Company International conveyancing panel reference.