Bluestone Mortgages Conveyancing Panel Information

The Council of Licensed Conveyancers has initiated discussions with banks and their representative bodies to see whether and how the risks that lenders wish to mitigate could be addressed through the regulatory framework rather than via ad hoc arrangements that can differ from lender to lender. We expect that that the CLC have been in touch with lenders such as Bluestone Mortgages as well as the CML.

In order to be on the Bluestone Mortgages conveyancing panel solicitors have to complete an application form and agree Terms and Conditions. A sample of 5 conditions that we see amongst many lenders Terms (but not necessarily Bluestone Mortgages) are as follows:

• You have the consent of all borrowers to apply for the deeds, before making any request for deeds. We will accept your request for deeds on the understanding that you have obtained such consent. If this is not the case then you should advise our Deeds Services Department in writing when you make your request
• To forward the title deeds and documents to another solicitor/conveyancer within 24 hours of an instruction from us requiring you to do so. On forwarding the deeds as instructed you will confirm to us that you have done so. Upon receipt of your confirmation, we will release you from all undertakings relating to your holding the title deeds.
• That any deeds you borrow from us in connection with the personal mortgage of a partner or director at your firm must be requested by a partner or director other than the partner or director concerned and the transaction must be handled by that other partner or director. If you are a sole practitioner and require the loan of deeds in connection with your own mortgage, you must nominate a different firm on our panel to request the deeds and handle the transaction.
• Without prejudice to your obligation to comply in full with the Safeguards provisions in the CML Lenders’ Handbook, to report to us as soon as possible any suspicion that you have about the genuineness of any transaction in any respect.
• If you are a sole practitioner, to arrange for appropriate locum cover from our panel where necessary. Your locum must be a member of the Conveyancing panel.

You will be aware of the trend in recent years for lenders such as Bluestone Mortgages to take a much more pro-active approach in relation to the management and make up of their conveyancer panels. The knock on effect of this is that it is more likely that there will be a higher number of cases where a conveyancer is not on the Bluestone Mortgages panel. The situation that you find yourself in is where your client’s purchaser has his/her own lawyer and Bluestone Mortgages have appointed a separate lawyer to act on their behalf where the new CML Part 3 requirements apply. Section 11.1 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Part 3 requires Bluestone Mortgages’s panel solicitor to ‘ ...transfer the mortgage advance directly to the Seller’s conveyancer. The Seller’s conveyancer must be required to hold the mortgage advance on the terms of the required undertaking. The example borrower’s conveyancer’s undertaking letter includes a specific example of the seller’s undertaking’. You should expect to be advised to received the mortgage advance directly from the conveyancing solicitors for Bluestone Mortgages. You will no doubt be required to undertake directly to Bluestone Mortgages’s solicitors to discharge any charges secured on the property and to send directly to them the executed transfer and any other documents required to enable us to effect registration. Please remember to carefully consider undertakings in accordance with your firm’s protocol and record them in your undertakings logg. Please remember that as well as this breach of this undertaking having regulatory and compliance implications it’s breach could also result in your firm being removed off the Bluestone Mortgages conveyancing panel.

You have a number of obligations in this regard which 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 Bluestone Mortgages immediately. Second, 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 Bluestone Mortgages’s mortgage offer are correct. If they are not, please let Bluestone Mortgages know as soon as possible as it will be necessary for Bluestone Mortgages to check with the valuer whether the valuation needs to be revised. Bluestone Mortgages conveyancing panel solicitors are not expected to assume the role of valuer. Bluestone Mortgages are simply trying to ensure that the valuer has valued the property based on correct information. (III) Bluestone 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. Bluestone Mortgages recommend that, if we send a copy of a valuation report that Bluestone 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 Bluestone 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 Bluestone Mortgages conveyancing panel

The best placed professionals to answer this question are your insurance brokers. The chances are that on the basis that you have not been removed for fraud or negligence reasons that there will be little or no impact. The main reason why a firm would be removed off of a lender panel is due to low volume of conveyancing cases although there may be a number of criteria for Bluestone Mortgages solicitor panel membership. Please remember that it is always important that you complete your insurance forms accurately.

You need to get in touch with Bluestone Mortgages to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook incorporates an express inquiry for banks to establish who to contact to obtain standard documents. Bluestone Mortgages in their Part 2’s state: Always remember to quote the firm’s Bluestone Mortgages solicitors panel number.