Rooftop Mortgages Conveyancing Panel Information

Although not necessarily published, lenders have varying criteria . We do not hold specific requirements relating to the questions raised as part of the application to be on the Rooftop Mortgages conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):

Whether the firm has ever knowingly accepted instructions on transactions involving Sale and Rent Back, Back to Back, Exchange and Delayed Completion and Lease Option, Below Market Value.

Charge registration history

Full career history for each licensed conveyancer including registration date with Council of Licensed Conveyancers

Whether any lender has ever made a claim against the firm’s PII cover

The percentage of the firm’s business which is conveyancing (broken down into sale

Summary of annual accounts

Structure of firm and, where applicable, its group

and Conveyancing Quality Scheme

List of fee-earners who are foreign qualified

Full disciplinary history for each licensed conveyancer

In the same way that there is a unique Rooftop Mortgages conveyancing panel most building societies, operate a conveyancing panel for solicitors and other conveyancers that the lender will instruct. Terms and Conditions and criteria for inclusion on a building society conveyancing panel vary from lender-to-lender. Having CQS accreditation may be a requirement. Institutional lenders, such as a building society, is a client and is entitled to instruct the solicitor or conveyancer of its choosing (who, in turn, is free to accept or refuse instructions). Therefore, if lender and borrower cannot agree which solicitor or conveyancer should represent them jointly, they would usually proceed on a separate representation basis. The BSA have not published the equivalent of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Part 3s.

You will be aware of the trend in recent years for lenders such as Rooftop 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 Rooftop Mortgages panel. The situation that you find yourself in is where your client’s purchaser has his/her own lawyer and Rooftop 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 Rooftop 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 Rooftop Mortgages. You will no doubt be required to undertake directly to Rooftop 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 Rooftop Mortgages conveyancing panel.

With banks and solicitors working so closely with one another 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 Rooftop Mortgages conveyancing panel but for all lender panel listings

In this situation please explain on the form what action you have taken to discover the reasons behind cancellation of your Rooftop Mortgages panel status. 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 would be advised to communicate with Rooftop Mortgages to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook contains an express section for banks to establish who to contact to obtain standard documents. Rooftop Mortgages in their Part 2’s state: It is likely that you will need to disclose the firm’s Rooftop Mortgages conveyancing panel reference.