Foundation Home loans Conveyancing Panel Information

We only know of a couple of lenders that operate a distinct approved solicitors panel where the mortgage advance is over a certain level. You should nevertheless check directly with Foundation Home loans. At one stage HSBC would only allow Sole practitioners to act for them where the mortgage was below £150,000. We are not sure if HSBC still operate such a condition. In your case it is best to check with Foundation Home loans

We can't comment specifically on Foundation Home loans. 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 buyer client 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 she is in dispute 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.

The answer to this question really depends on the reason that your firm has been removed off the Foundation Home loans conveyancing panel. The top 3 reasons are as follows:

1. lack of transactions
2. the lawyer is a sole practitioner
3. as part of the HSBC panel reduction.

In these three circumstances it is unlikely that you would expected to take any action. Disclosure and other compliance considerations are more likely to be relevant if the reason for removal is due to breaches of lender requirements or allegations of fraud or negligence. Whether the reasoning should trigger a disclosable 'material' breach will depend on the firm and the circumstances around possible failures to comply with the SRA Authorisation Rules, and the SRA will judge each case on its own merits. Factors such as the detriment or risk of detriment to clients, the scale of the issue and overall impact on the firm will need to be considered in deciding whether a failure is 'material'. As the compliance officer you will need systems to identify patterns of breaches. Even if you don't consider there to be regulatory implications the firms COFA should give some thought to whether she/he needs to take any action as result of being removed from the Foundation Home loans conveyancing panel.

There are various requirements 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 Foundation Home loans 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 Foundation Home loans’s mortgage offer are correct. If they are not, please let Foundation Home loans know as soon as possible as it will be necessary for Foundation Home loans to check with the valuer whether the valuation needs to be revised. Foundation Home loans conveyancing panel solicitors are not expected to assume the role of valuer. Foundation Home loans are simply trying to ensure that the valuer has valued the property based on correct information. (III) Foundation Home loans 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. Foundation Home loans recommend that, if we send a copy of a valuation report that Foundation Home loans 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 comprehensive survey. If you do not receive a copy of the valuation you can always ask for a copy of one from Foundation Home loans 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 Foundation Home loans conveyancing panel

CQS membership gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a prerequisite for firms wishing to join their approved list of firms. A number of Lenders now use the Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation as the starting point for Panel membership as is the case with Santander.

You should contact Foundation Home loans to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook contains an explicit inquiry for banks to cite who to contact to obtain standard documents. Foundation Home loans in their Part 2’s state: It is likely that you will need to disclose your Foundation Home loans solicitors panel number.