Precise Mortgages Conveyancing Panel Information

Paragraph 16.2.1 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook applicable to a solicitor on the Precise Mortgages conveyancing panel reads ‘Our mortgage secures further advances. Consequently, when a further advance is required for alterations or improvements to the property we will not normally instruct a member of our conveyancing panel but if you are instructed the appropriate provisions of this Handbook will apply’.

You will be aware of the trend in recent years for lenders such as Precise Mortgages to take a much more pro-active approach in relation to the management and make up of their conveyancer panels. The knock on effect of this is that it is more likely that there will be a higher number of cases where a conveyancer is not on the Precise Mortgages panel. The situation that you find yourself in is where your client’s purchaser has his/her own lawyer and Precise Mortgages have appointed a separate lawyer to act on their behalf where the new CML Part 3 requirements apply. Section 11.1 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Part 3 requires Precise Mortgages’s panel solicitor to ‘ ...transfer the mortgage advance directly to the Seller’s conveyancer. The Seller’s conveyancer must be required to hold the mortgage advance on the terms of the required undertaking. The example borrower’s conveyancer’s undertaking letter includes a specific example of the seller’s undertaking’. You should expect to be advised to received the mortgage advance directly from the conveyancing solicitors for Precise Mortgages. You will no doubt be required to undertake directly to Precise Mortgages’s solicitors to discharge any charges secured on the property and to send directly to them the executed transfer and any other documents required to enable us to effect registration. Please remember to carefully consider undertakings in accordance with your firm’s protocol and record them in your undertakings logg. Please remember that as well as this breach of this undertaking having regulatory and compliance implications it’s breach could also result in your firm being removed off the Precise Mortgages conveyancing panel.

With mortgage companies and solicitors working so closely with one another it is surprising that there has not been much call for the introduction of a bit of transparency regarding not just the figures for the Precise Mortgages conveyancing panel but for all lender panel listings

In this situation please clarify on the application what steps you have taken to discover the reasons behind cancellation of your Precise Mortgages 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 advising you as to their reasons?

You need to communicate with Precise Mortgages to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook has an individual section for banks to establish who to contact to obtain standard documents. Precise Mortgages in their Part 2’s state: It is likely that you will need to disclose your Precise Mortgages solicitors panel reference.