M&S Bank Conveyancing Panel Information

We can't comment specifically on M&S Bank. Many major lenders are now introducing ‘file auditing’ as standard practice in relation to completed matters. This raises questions of confidentiality in relation to the borrower and the purpose to which the results of such audits will be put. The starting point is to remember that the file does not belong to your firm, it belongs to the ‘client’. But, of course, we will normally have two clients – the buyer and the lender - and you will owe a duty of confidentiality to each. So basically, you have to separate the file and just send the lender the parts solely relating to themselves. But, of course, as this will basically be correspondence with the lender, mortgage instructions etc.

Check with your COLP but a firm should not send the complete conveyancing file without the buyer client’s express consent – and if she is in dispute with the lender he is hardly likely to agree. However, if the lender can establish a prima facie case of fraud, then you may be under an obligation to disclose the whole file.

The emerging convention is that lenders are including an authority to disclose in loan application forms to counter this problem. Mortgage Express v Sawali, [2010] EWHC 3054 (Ch) indicates that such provisions are valid. Please click here for more information about that case.

There are many reports available, five of which are as follows:

• Buy to Let transactions
• Analysis as to the nature of clients (e.g.existing/new/seen in person)
• Disclosure/Notification to Lender analysis indicating frequency and nature of disclosures - to include benchmarking analysis against aggregate data
• Number of conveyancing cases by lender
• Evidence of undertaking logs

With lenders and conveyancers working so closely together it is surprising that there has not been greater demand for the introduction of a bit of transparency regarding not just the figures for the M&S Bank conveyancing panel but for all bank panel listings

7 borrowers attempt to locate a solicitor on the M&S Bank panel on a monthly basis in Hendon. Please contact the team at lenderpanel.com to see how your firm can be identified by those searching for conveyancing in Hendon.

We would recommend that you supply details of the date of removal, information on the reason for removal, date of appeal and any reason given for reinstatement. This should not negatively affect your application but gives the Law Society a complete picture of what has gone on.

You would be advised to contact M&S Bank to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook contains a specific section for banks to reveal who to contact to obtain standard documents. M&S Bank in their Part 2’s state: You will need to disclose your M&S Bank conveyancing panel reference.