April Mortgages Conveyancing Panel Information

There are many reports available, five of which are as follows:

• Disclosure/Notification to Lender analysis indicating frequency and nature of disclosures - to include benchmarking analysis against aggregate data
• Evidence of undertaking logs
• The percentage of the firm’s business which is conveyancing (broken down into sale/purchase and remortgage)
• Number of conveyancing cases by lender
• Analysis as to the nature of clients (e.g.existing/new/seen in person)

There are various requirements you need to follow if you wish to comply with your lender client’s instructions as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. (I) You must take reasonable steps to verify that there are no discrepancies between the description of the property as valued and the title and other documents which a reasonably competent conveyancer should obtain, and, if there are, you must tell April Mortgages immediately. (b) You should take reasonable steps to verify that the assumptions stated by the valuer about the title (for example, its tenure, easements, boundaries and restrictions on its use) in the valuation and as stated in April Mortgages’s mortgage offer are correct. If they are not, please let April Mortgages know as soon as possible as it will be necessary for April Mortgages to check with the valuer whether the valuation needs to be revised. April Mortgages conveyancing panel solicitors are not expected to assume the role of valuer. April Mortgages are simply trying to ensure that the valuer has valued the property based on correct information. Thirdly, April Mortgages recommend that you should advise the borrower that there may be defects in the property which are not revealed by the inspection carried out by their valuer and there may be omissions or inaccuracies in the report which do not matter to them as a lender but which would matter to the borrower. April Mortgages recommend that, if we send a copy of a valuation report that April Mortgages have obtained, you should also advise the borrower that the borrower should not rely on the report in deciding whether to proceed with the purchase and that he obtains his own more detailed report on the condition and value of the property, based on a fuller inspection such as a homebuyers report or structural survey. If you do not receive a copy of the valuation you can always ask for a copy of one from April Mortgages or the borrower. You still need to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Requirement relating to valuation reports even if you don't receive one directly. Failure to comply not only runs the risk of facing a claim by the lender but also being removed from the April Mortgages conveyancing panel

With lenders and conveyancers working so closely with one another it is surprising that there has not been greater demand for the introduction of a bit of transparency regarding not just the figures for the April Mortgages conveyancing panel but for all bank panels

8 consumers search for a property lawyer on the April Mortgages panel each month in Hendon. The lenderpanel directory service team who will show you how your firm can be identified by those searching for conveyancing in Hendon.

You should supply details of the date of removal, information on the reason for removal, date of appeal and any reason given for reinstatement. This should not adversely impact your firm’s application but gives the Law Society a complete picture of what has happened.

You would be advised to contact April Mortgages to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook incorporates a specific question for lenders to enumerate who to contact to obtain standard documents. April Mortgages in their Part 2’s state: Please remember to disclose the firm’s April Mortgages solicitors panel reference.