Halifax Conveyancing Panel Information

The criteria to join the Halifax conveyancing panel is likely to be fairly detailed and is unlikely to include signing up to LENDERmonitor alerts.

As is the case with the Law Society the Council of Licensed Conveyancers has begun 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. It is likely that that the CLC have been in touch with lenders such as Halifax as well as the BSA.

When a solicitor is acting for both Halifax 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 Halifax and it may well be prudent you to cease to act for the purchaser as well. You can not tell the Halifax 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 Halifax 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 Halifax conveyancing panel to see if you are entitled to a reason.

In this situation please clarify on the application what action you have taken to find out the reasons behind cancellation of your Halifax panel membership. In particular please provide details if you have received communications from the lender. E.G. before cessation of your panel membership did you receive any letters or calls from the lender putting you on notice?

You should get in touch with Halifax to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook includes an individual question for banks to enumerate who to contact to obtain standard documents. Halifax in their Part 2’s state: It is likely that you will need to quote the firm’s Halifax solicitors panel reference.