The Mortgage Business Conveyancing Panel Information

As is the case with the Law Society the Council of Licensed Conveyancers has begun discussions with banks and their representative bodies to see whether and how the risks that lenders wish to mitigate could be addressed through the regulatory framework rather than via ad hoc arrangements that can differ from lender to lender. It is likely that that the CLC have been in touch with lenders such as The Mortgage Business in recent years.

One might ordinarily expect The Mortgage Business via their Part Two conditions to address this but the Handbook is silent on time frames. Do look at the Terms of The Mortgage Business’s Conveyancing Panel Appointment that you are bound by. For a number of banks these Terms contain 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 imperative to keep The Mortgage Business updated. Law firms can often compound their problems by not communicating with the lender when there is a delay or problem.

There are many reports available, five of which are as follows:

• Disclosure/Notification to Lender analysis indicating frequency and nature of disclosures - to include benchmarking analysis against aggregate data
• Average time frame to send deeds to the lender (calculated from completion date or title registration)
• Average time frame to register charges at the Land Registry
• Number of conveyancing cases by lender
• Buy to Let transactions

Most lenders do not operate a specific buy to let conveyancing panel but we are hearing about a few that do. We do not know what the position is with The Mortgage Business as at todays date. If you're about to receive instructions from a client on a buy to let purchase with a mortgage from The Mortgage Business we suggest that you call The Mortgage Business to check the position.

Your insurance brokers are your best port of call to address this question. 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 The Mortgage Business solicitor panel membership. Please remember that it is always important that you complete your insurance forms accurately.

You should contact The Mortgage Business to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook incorporates an express section for lenders to establish who to contact to obtain standard documents. The Mortgage Business in their Part 2’s state: You will need to quote your The Mortgage Business solicitors panel number.