Hodge Conveyancing Panel Information

The Council of Mortgage Lenders is an association rather than a regulator and therefore cannot investigate grievances against lenders. You can of course contact Lexsure to see if we can assist.

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 Hodge conveyancing panel to see if you are entitled to a reason.

You have a number of obligations in this regard which you need to follow 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 Hodge 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 Hodge’s mortgage offer are correct. If they are not, please let Hodge know as soon as possible as it will be necessary for Hodge to check with the valuer whether the valuation needs to be revised. Hodge conveyancing panel solicitors are not expected to assume the role of valuer. Hodge are simply trying to ensure that the valuer has valued the property based on correct information. (c) Hodge 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. Hodge recommend that, if we send a copy of a valuation report that Hodge 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 Hodge 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 Hodge conveyancing panel

In the circumstances please explain on the form what steps you have taken to discover the reasons behind cancellation of your Hodge panel membership. In particular please provide details if you have received communications from the lender. E.G. before revocation 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 Hodge to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook incorporates an explicit question for banks to establish who to contact to obtain standard documents. Hodge in their Part 2’s state: You will need to quote your Hodge solicitors panel number.