Foundation Home loans Conveyancing Panel Information

The Council of Mortgage Lender requirements of Foundation Home loans are silent on this. Most mortgage companies deal with the question 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 Foundation Home loans’s interest. To be absolutely sure of Foundation Home loans requirements in this regard please check the Terms and Conditions of Foundation Home loans’s conveyancing panel acceptance.

Each lender has different criteria. We do not hold specific requirements relating to the questions raised as part of the application to be on the Foundation Home loans conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):

PII Cover details, including, if relevant, whether the firm is or has been in the assigned risks pool and structure of cover – basic

The percentage of the firm’s business which is conveyancing (broken down into sale

Whether the firm has ever knowingly accepted instructions on transactions involving Sale and Rent Back, Back to Back, Exchange and Delayed Completion and Lease Option, Below Market Value.

List of all solicitors within firm

Firm name, address and contact details including all branches (including evidence of existence through risk-based physical visits and Google Streetview checks)

Full complaints history for each conveyancing solicitor

Full career history for each solicitor including admission date to the relevant Law Society

Number of lender conveyancing panels the firm is currently on

Automated alerting to inform lenders when there is a fundamental change to the firm (e.g. change of management)

Full complaints history for each licensed conveyancer

The CLC 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 Foundation Home loans as well as the CML.

The key here is the caveat ‘more onerous’. You have to try and take an objective view as to whether the Terms relating to the Foundation Home loans 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 completing the answer.

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

You would be advised to communicate with Foundation Home loans to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook contains an express inquiry for lenders to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents. Foundation Home loans in their Part 2’s state: It helps to quote the firm’s Foundation Home loans conveyancing panel reference.