Principality Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

Each lender has different criteria. We do not hold specific requirements relating to the questions raised as part of the application to be on the Principality Building Society conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):

Full complaints history for each conveyancing solicitor

List of all Licensed Conveyancers within firm

purchase and remortgage)

Full complaints history for each licensed conveyancer

Structure of firm and, where applicable, its group

Whether the firm has ever accepted instructions in respect of property clubs and investment schemes

and Conveyancing Quality Scheme

Areas of Law covered by the firm

Full career history for each solicitor including admission date to the relevant Law Society

Full disciplinary history for each conveyancing solicitor

We can't comment specifically on Principality 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 buyer client 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 he is in arrears with the lender she 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.

One might ordinarily expect Principality Building Society via their Part 2 obligations to address this but the Handbook is silent on time frames. Do look at the Terms of Principality Building Society’s Conveyancing Panel Appointment that you are bound by. For a number of banks these Terms have a clause along the following lines: ‘To keep us informed of the reasons for any delay in your being able to send the title deeds and documents we require to us within 3 months of completion or evidence of proof of registration within that period. (We will send reminders if the deeds have not been received but will not acknowledge receipt of deeds’ It is important to keep Principality Building Society informed. Law firms can often compound their problems by not communicating with the lender when there is a delay or problem.

You need to be careful here as what you are proposing 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. Lenders such as Nationwide BS make it clear to their panel firms that where a non-panel member firm is instructed by one of their mortgage applicants, the lender will appoint a panel firm to carry out its instructions and to liaise with the borrower's conveyancing firm. You also need to make the costs implications and potential for delay very clear to your client.

The best placed professionals to answer this question are your insurance brokers. The chances are that on the basis that you have not been removed for fraud or negligence reasons that there will be little or no impact. The main reason why a firm would be removed off of a lender panel is due to low volume of conveyancing cases although there may be a number of criteria for Principality Building Society solicitor panel membership. Please remember that it is always important that you complete your insurance forms accurately.

You need to communicate with Principality Building Society to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook incorporates a specific inquiry for banks to enumerate who to contact to obtain standard documents. Principality Building Society in their Part 2’s state: You will need to disclose the firm’s Principality Building Society conveyancing panel number.