Looking for information about your firm's panel status?
April Mortgages Solicitor Panel: Recently Asked Questions
Is it true that the Law Society has recommended that firms check their status on the
April Mortgages conveyancing panel?
The Scottish Law Society has advised 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
April Mortgages 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 moneysavingexpert.com
What sort of information are Lenders such as
April Mortgages are asking for when it comes to applying to be on their approved conveyancing panel?
Each lender has different criteria.
We do not hold specific requirements relating to the questions raised as part of the application to be on the
April Mortgages conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):
Whether the firm is able to operate in other jurisdictions
SRA or equivalent regulator registration number where applicable
Structure of firm and, where applicable, its group
List of fee-earners who are foreign qualified
Whether the firm has ever knowingly accepted instructions on transactions involving Sale and Rent Back, Back to Back, Exchange and Delayed Completion and Lease Option, Below Market Value.
Automated alerting to inform lenders when there is a fundamental change to the firm (e.g. change of name)
Summary of annual accounts
The percentage of the firm’s business which is conveyancing (broken down into sale
Areas of Law covered by the firm
PII Cover details, including, if relevant, whether the firm is or has been in the assigned risks pool and structure of cover – basic
It is possible that April Mortgages could request or audit my files as I am on the
April Mortgages conveyancing panel. What do I do if I receive such a request?
We can't comment specifically on
April Mortgages. Many major lenders are now introducing ‘file auditing’ as standard practice in relation to completed matters. This raises questions of confidentiality in relation to the borrower and the purpose to which the results of such audits will be put. The starting point is to remember that the file does not belong to your firm, it belongs to the ‘client’. But, of course, we will normally have two clients – the buyer and the lender - and you will owe a duty of confidentiality to each. So basically, you have to separate the file and just send the lender the parts solely relating to themselves. But, of course, as this will basically be correspondence with the lender, mortgage instructions etc.
Check with your COLP but a firm should not send the complete conveyancing file without the buyer client’s express consent – and if he is in arrears with the lender he is hardly likely to agree. However, if the lender can establish a prima facie case of fraud, then you may be under an obligation to disclose the whole file.
The emerging convention is that lenders are including an authority to disclose in loan application forms to counter this problem. Mortgage Express v Sawali, [2010] EWHC 3054 (Ch) indicates that such provisions are valid. Please click here for more information about that case.
Who do building societies allow to be on their Conveyancing Panels?
In the same way that there is a unique April Mortgages
conveyancing panel most building societies, operate a conveyancing
panel for solicitors and other conveyancers that the lender will
instruct. Terms and Conditions and criteria for inclusion on a
building society conveyancing panel vary from lender-to-lender. Having
CQS accreditation may be a requirement. Institutional lenders, such
as a building society, is a client and is entitled to instruct the
solicitor or conveyancer of its choosing (who, in turn, is free to
accept or refuse instructions). Therefore, if lender and borrower
cannot agree which solicitor or conveyancer should represent them
jointly, they would usually proceed on a separate representation
basis. The BSA have not published the equivalent of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook
Part 3s.
In conducting leasehold title investigations do
April Mortgages panel solicitors have to examine whether there is an insolvent landlord?
On the basis that your firm in is on the
April Mortgages conveyancing panel and you are representing them in relation to a leasehold property, you must report to them if it becomes apparent that the landlord is either absent or insolvent. If
April Mortgages are to lend, they may require indemnity insurance. In any event,you will need to check
April Mortgages’s specific requirements. Notwithstanding whether
April Mortgages will lend in such circumstances you still need to advise the borrower (unless you are acting for
April Mortgages alone) as to the risks of buying a property with an insolvent or absentee freeholder.
Our membership of the
April Mortgages conveyancing panel was revoked but was reinstated on appeal, do I need to disclose these details on my application for CQS accreditation?
It would be advisable to 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 negatively affect your firm’s application but gives the Law Society a complete picture of what has happened.
My firm is listed on the
April Mortgages
conveyancing panel and all set to complete a remortgage within the next few weeks. My papers do not include a Legal Charge for the client to sign.
Who do I contact at April Mortgages to request substitute deeds?
You should contact April Mortgages
to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook incorporates a specific section for banks to reveal who to contact to obtain standard documents.
April Mortgages in their Part 2’s state:
Don’t forget to quote your April Mortgages solicitors panel number.
Find a Lawyer on the April Mortgages Conveyancing Panel
powered by LenderPanel
Average number of days to register title including a charge in favour of April Mortgages
This information relates to purchase only and not remortgages.
| Year | Days* |
|---|---|
| 2025 | [no data] |
| 2024 | [no data] |
| 2023 | [no data] |
| 2022 | [no data] |
| 2021 | [no data] |
| 2020 | [no data] |
* Data aggregated from sources including COMPLETIONmonitor
Other related topics:
- CQS policy templates and procedures for accredited April Mortgages Firms
- Draft Report on Title precedent for April Mortgages borrowers
- Draft Anti Money Laundering PolicyTemplate for April Mortgages panel firms to consider
- Dealing with Lender Policy Template panel for CQS accredited firms on the April Mortgages lender panel
- Buy-to-Let help for April Mortgages
- Consent-to-Let help for April Mortgages
- Contractor Mortgages with April Mortgages
