Barnsley Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

During 2013, 273 sections of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook P2 were changed by Barnsley Building Society. Some changes are more important than others but as a firm on the Barnsley Building Society 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.

When a solicitor is acting for both Barnsley Building Society and borrower there is potential for conflicts to arise. You owe duties to both clients. All information received by you from your client is confidential and cannot be disclosed without the client’s consent. In the situation you find yourself in if the purchaser will not consent to the information being passed on to the lender the solicitor must cease to act for the Barnsley Building Society and it may well be prudent you to cease to act for the purchaser as well. You can not tell the Barnsley Building Society the reason for termination of the retainer over and above the fact that a conflict has arisen. The fact that you can no longer act should alert even the most somnambulistic of lenders that something is wrong with the borrower and/or purchase. The fact that you have disinstructed yourself should not affect your Barnsley Building Society conveyancing panel status.

For most lenders participation on the lender's panel of conveyancers is at the absolute discretion of the the lender. Many lenders reserve the right to accept or reject any application without giving any reason. You should check your original application to join the Barnsley Building Society conveyancing panel to see if you are entitled to a reason.

You have a number of obligations in this regard which are to followed if you wish to comply with your lender client’s instructions as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. (a) 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 Barnsley Building Society 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 Barnsley Building Society’s mortgage offer are correct. If they are not, please let Barnsley Building Society know as soon as possible as it will be necessary for Barnsley Building Society to check with the valuer whether the valuation needs to be revised. Barnsley Building Society conveyancing panel solicitors are not expected to assume the role of valuer. Barnsley Building Society are simply trying to ensure that the valuer has valued the property based on correct information. Thirdly, Barnsley Building Society 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. Barnsley Building Society recommend that, if we send a copy of a valuation report that Barnsley Building Society 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 Barnsley Building Society 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 Barnsley Building Society conveyancing panel

In this situation please explain on the form what action you have taken to discover the reasons behind cancellation of your Barnsley Building Society panel status. In particular please provide details if you have received communications from the lender. E.G. before revocation of your panel membership did you receive any letters or calls from the lender putting you on notice?

You need to get in touch with Barnsley Building Society to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook incorporates an explicit question for lenders to establish who to contact to obtain standard documents. Barnsley Building Society in their Part 2’s state: Please remember to disclose your Barnsley Building Society conveyancing panel reference.