Harpenden Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

The Council of Licensed Conveyancers has begun dialogue with lenders 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 Harpenden Building Society in recent years.

When a solicitor is acting for both Harpenden Building Society 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 Harpenden Building Society and it may well be prudent you to cease to act for the purchaser as well. You can not tell the Harpenden Building Society 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 Harpenden Building Society conveyancing panel status.

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

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

In this situation please explain on the application what steps you have taken to find out 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 termination of your panel membership did you receive any letters or calls from the lender informing you as to why they reached this decision?

You need to get in touch with Harpenden Building Society to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook has an express inquiry for lenders to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents. Harpenden Building Society in their Part 2’s state: Don’t forget to disclose the firm’s Harpenden Building Society conveyancing panel reference.