Mansfield Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

The information on this page is designed to keep solicitors and licensed conveyancers abreast of latest requirements changes by Mansfield Building Society and to assist in remaining on the Mansfield Building Society Approved Conveyancing Solicitors Panel.

Mansfield Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information:

What are the Mansfield Building Society conveyancing panel criteria?
Unlike the CML the Building Society Mortgage Instructions deal with this. Section A.12 states ‘In order to act on our behalf your firm or company must be a member of our conveyancing panel provided we are a society that operates one – see specific requirements for details of our arrangements. The Special Requirements state:

We do not have our own separate conveyancing panel. Conveyancers must be on the Law Society/Licensed conveyancers website. The Society does not allow Licensed Conveyancers or solicitors who are a sole trader to act, insisting on a minimum of 2 partners. The practicing certificates for all partners at the office are obtained, and any new requests to join the panel will initially require the completion of a conveyancing panel questionnaire. The validity of a firm is verified and checks are made to identify any disciplinary issues against the individual/firm, and evidence of PII cover is also obtained which must be for a minimum of £2m per claim (£3m for relevant recognised bodies or relevant licensed bodies).. A.13. The BSA Mortgage Instructions do not affect any responsibilities that you have to us under the general law or any practice rule or guidance issued by your professional body from time to time.

You must also comply with the terms and conditions of your Mansfield Building Society solicitor panel appointment.

Will the fact that my firm has signed up to LENDERmonitor Alerts assist in my application to join the Mansfield Building Society solicitor panel?
The requirements to join the Mansfield Building Society conveyancing panel is likely to be fairly detailed and is unlikely to include signing up to LENDERmonitor alerts.
It is possible that Mansfield Building Society could request or audit my files as I am on the Mansfield Building Society conveyancing panel. Are there any confidentiality issues that I need to consider first?
We can't comment specifically on Mansfield Building Society. 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 Compliance Officer, but a firm should not send the complete conveyancing file without the borrower client’s express consent – and if he is in arrears 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 valid? Please click here for more information about that case.

My firm is not on the Mansfield Building Society approved panel as well other lenders . My clients, who have applied for a mortgage with Mansfield Building Society still want me to act for them even though I am not on the Mansfield Building Society panel. Am I doing anything wrong is suggesting to my client that they use a firm down the road to represent Mansfield Building Society on mortgage aspect of the conveyancing?
You need to be careful here as what you are suggesting may not be acceptable to the mortgage company. It is possible that you (as a non-panel firm) or the mortgage applicant are not at liberty instruct a panel firm of your choice. Many lenders make it clear to their panel firms that where a non-panel member firm is instructed by one of their mortgage applicants, the lender must appoint a panel firm to carry out its instructions and to liaise with the borrower's conveyancer. You also need to make the costs implications and potential for delay very clear to your client.
The firm that I work for is on the Mansfield Building Society conveyancing panel. I am dealing with Mansfield Building Society mortgage on a purchase. My borrower client is asking not to disclose an issue to Mansfield Building Society. What do I do in this conflict situation?
When a solicitor is acting for both Mansfield 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 your situation, if the purchaser will not consent to the information being passed on to the lender, the solicitor must cease to act for Mansfield Building Society and it may well be prudent for you to cease to act for the purchaser as well. You must not inform Mansfield Building Society of 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 Mansfield Building Society conveyancing panel status.

Should Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation guarantee my firm’s acceptance on to building society conveyancing panels?
CQS accreditation gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless the BSA have indicated that it is likely to become a prerequisite for firms wishing to join their panels. Some mortgage companies now use the Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation as the starting point for Panel acceptance such as Astra Mortgages .
The CML Handbook includes instructions for a property with a solar panel. Mansfield Building Society do not set out obligations via the BSA Mortgage Instructions. Is this right?
The BSA Mortgage Instructions don't specifically deal with Solar Panels but it would be prudent as approved solicitors for Mansfield Building Society to raise the issue with them (as you would if the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook applied). In any event you need to raise the appropriate questions for your buyer client.
What lender panels do you receive the most questions about?
BSA lenders do not come within the top 20 lenders in terms of frequency of questions. The most popular lender panels in terms of questions are as follows:

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Average number of days to register title including a charge in favour of Mansfield Building Society
This information relates to purchase only and not remortgages.
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* Data aggregated from sources including COMPLETIONmonitor