Harpenden Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

The requirements to join the Harpenden Building Society conveyancing panel is likely to be fairly detailed and is unlikely to include signing up to LENDERmonitor alerts.

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 Harpenden Building Society conveyancing panel to see if you are entitled to a reason.

Harpenden Building Society approved panel lawyers have to comply with the Part II 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 Harpenden Building Society require, the deed of covenant on their behalf. You will need to check Harpenden Building Society CML Part 2 conditions to see if Harpenden Building Society 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 Harpenden Building Society conveyancing panel

Assuming that your firm in is on the Harpenden Building Society conveyancing panel and you are representing them in relation to a leasehold property, you must report to them if it becomes apparent that the landlord is either absent or insolvent. If Harpenden Building Society are to lend, they may require indemnity insurance. In any event,you will need to check Harpenden Building Society’s specific requirements. Notwithstanding whether Harpenden Building Society will lend in such circumstances you still need to advise the borrower (unless you are acting for Harpenden Building Society alone) as to the risks of buying a property with an insolvent or absentee landlord.

In this situation please explain on the application what steps you have taken to discover the reasons behind cancellation of your Harpenden Building Society panel status. 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 advising you as to their reasons?

You would be advised to contact Harpenden Building Society to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook has an explicit question for lenders to cite who to contact to obtain standard documents. Harpenden Building Society in their Part 2’s state: It is likely that you will need to quote your Harpenden Building Society conveyancing panel reference.