Reliance Bank Conveyancing Panel Information

The Law Society of Scotland has suggested that solicitors should check their lender panel status before accepting client instructions to act. The advice is lender-agnostic as it does not relate specifically to solicitors on the Reliance Bank conveyancing panel. The recommendation arises from the practice of a number of mortgage lenders who remove solicitors from their panels without prior notice as part of their panel management system, which can lead to some solicitors discovering this only once instructed. This is sensible advice as a client finding out midway through a transaction that their lawyer is not on the approved lender panel is very frustrating and can lead to complaints. Many online consumer forums contain posts where someone is complaining about finding that their lawyer is not on a lender conveyancing panel. Such forums include moneysavingexpert.com

The Council of Mortgage Lender requirements of Reliance Bank are silent on this. Most lenders deal with the issue of file retention via their Terms and Conditions where they generally provide that for evidential purposes, the firm must keep the file for at least of 6 years from the date of the mortgage. Data imagining is normally suitable compliance with this requirement. Many lenders point out in that it is the practice of some fraudsters to demand the conveyancing file on completion in order to destroy evidence that may later be used against them. It is therefore important to retain these documents to protect Reliance Bank’s interest. To be absolutely sure of Reliance Bank requirements in this regard please check the Terms and Conditions of Reliance Bank’s conveyancing panel appointment.

The answer to this question really depends on the reason that your firm has been removed off the Reliance Bank conveyancing panel. The top 3 reasons are as follows:

1. lack of transactions
2. the lawyer is a sole practitioner
3. as part of the HSBC panel reduction.

In these three circumstances it is unlikely that you would expected to take any action. Disclosure and other compliance considerations are more likely to be relevant if the reason for removal is due to breaches of lender requirements or allegations of fraud or negligence. Whether the reasoning should trigger a disclosable 'material' breach will depend on the firm and the circumstances around possible failures to comply with the SRA Authorisation Rules, and the SRA will judge each case on its own merits. Factors such as the detriment or risk of detriment to clients, the scale of the issue and overall impact on the firm will need to be considered in deciding whether a failure is 'material'. As the compliance officer you will need systems to identify patterns of breaches. Even if you don't consider there to be regulatory implications the firms COFA should give some thought to whether she/he needs to take any action as result of being removed from the Reliance Bank conveyancing panel.

In this situation please explain on the form what action you have taken to find out the reasons behind cancellation of your Reliance Bank panel status. In particular please provide details if you have received communications from the lender. E.G. before termination of your panel membership did you receive any letters or calls from the lender advising you as to their reasons?

You would be advised to contact Reliance Bank to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook includes an express section for lenders to reveal who to contact to obtain standard documents. Reliance Bank in their Part 2’s state: It helps to quote your Reliance Bank conveyancing panel reference.