Swansea Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

We are not aware of any intention on the part of the CML to develop such a register.

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 Swansea Building Society conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):

Summary of annual accounts

List of all those staff who work within the conveyancing team

Full disciplinary history for each conveyancing solicitor

Structure of firm and, where applicable, its group

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

Firm name, address and contact details including all branches (including evidence of existence through risk-based physical visits and Google Streetview checks)

Automated alerting to inform lenders when there is a fundamental change to the firm (e.g. change of management)

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

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

conveyancer client account(s) details

We can't comment specifically on Swansea 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 COLP but a firm should not send the complete conveyancing file without the buyer client’s express consent – and if she 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 are valid. Please click here for more information about that case.

One might ordinarily expect Swansea Building Society via their Part 2 requirements to address this but the Handbook makes no mention on deadlines to send deeds. You need to look at the Terms of Swansea Building Society’s Conveyancing Panel Appointment that you previously signed. For many lender's these Terms include a clause such as: ‘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 Swansea Building Society updated. Law firms can often compound their problems by not communicating with the lender when there is a delay or problem.

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 Swansea Building Society solicitor panel membership. Please remember that it is always important that you complete your insurance forms accurately.

You need to contact Swansea Building Society to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook incorporates an individual section for lenders to reveal who to contact to obtain standard documents. Swansea Building Society in their Part 2’s state: Always remember to disclose your Swansea Building Society solicitors panel number.