Clydesdale Bank Conveyancing Panel Information

The Scottish Law Society has advised that solicitors should check their lender panel status before accepting client instructions to act. The advice is lender-agnostic as it does not relate specifically to solicitors on the Clydesdale Bank 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 mumsnet.com

The CML Part II requirements of Clydesdale Bank are silent on this. Most mortgage companies deal with the issue of file retention via their Terms and Conditions where they generally provide that for evidential purposes, the firm must keep the file for a minimum six 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 Clydesdale Bank’s interest. To be absolutely sure of Clydesdale Bank requirements in this regard please check the Terms and Conditions of Clydesdale Bank’s conveyancing panel acceptance.

Clydesdale Bank approved panel lawyers have to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook instructions relating to Transfer of Equity. These are set out in Section 16.3. First, your firm must approve the form of Transfer of Equity (which should be in the Land Registry's standard form) and, if Clydesdale Bank require, the deed of covenant on their behalf. You will need to check Clydesdale Bank CML Part 2 conditions to see if Clydesdale Bank have standard forms of transfer and deed of covenant. Please note that this requirement can change from one transaction to another so do check! Second,When drafting or approving a transfer, you should bear in mind that: although the transfer should state that it is subject to the mortgage (identified by date and parties), it need give no details of the terms of the mortgage; the transfer need not state the amount of the mortgage debt. If it does, the figure should include both principal and interest at the date of completion, which you must check ; there should be no statement that all interest has been paid to date. Further obligations are set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook which have to be followed by all firms on the Clydesdale Bank conveyancing panel

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 application but gives the CQS team a complete picture of what has occured.

You should contact Clydesdale Bank to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook contains an individual inquiry for banks to cite who to contact to obtain standard documents. Clydesdale Bank in their Part 2’s state: It is likely that you will need to quote the firm’s Clydesdale Bank solicitors panel number.