April Mortgages Conveyancing Panel Information

The CML Part II requirements of April Mortgages are silent on this. Most mortgage companies deal with the issue of file retention via their Terms of panel appointment where they generally provide that for evidential purposes, the firm must keep the file for at least of 6 years from the date of the mortgage. Data imagining is normally suitable compliance with this requirement. Many lenders point out in that it is the practice of some fraudsters to demand the conveyancing file on completion in order to destroy evidence that may later be used against them. It is therefore important to retain these documents to protect April Mortgages’s interest. To be absolutely sure of April Mortgages requirements in this regard please check the Terms and Conditions of April Mortgages’s conveyancing panel acceptance.

One might ordinarily expect April Mortgages via their Part Two requirements to address this but the Handbook is silent on time frames. Do look at the Terms of April Mortgages’s Conveyancing Panel Appointment that you previously signed. For a number of banks these Terms include 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 imperative to keep April Mortgages updated. Law firms can often compound their problems by not communicating with the lender when there is a delay or problem.

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

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

The concern here is if you are expect to enter into ‘more onerous’ conditions that than the Handbook obligations. You have to try and take an objective view as to whether the Terms relating to the April Mortgages conveyancing appointment (or other terms for other lenders) are ‘more onerous’ than the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Conditions. Depending on the Terms you may need to provide details on your renewal form. If you are in any doubt please call your broker to discuss before moving forward on this question.

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.

You would be advised to communicate with April Mortgages to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook incorporates an express section for lenders to reveal who to contact to obtain standard documents. April Mortgages in their Part 2’s state: It helps to disclose your April Mortgages solicitors panel number.