The Mortgage Lender Conveyancing Panel Information

The Law Society of Scotland has suggested that solicitors should check their panel status with lenders prior to accepting client instructions to act. The advice is lender-agnostic as it does not relate specifically to solicitors on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel. The suggestion 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 mumsnet.com

The Mortgage Lender approved panel lawyers have to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook instructions relating to Transfer of Equity. These are set out in Section 16.3. First, your firm must approve the form of Transfer of Equity (which should be in the Land Registry's standard form) and, if The Mortgage Lender require, the deed of covenant on their behalf. You will need to check The Mortgage Lender CML Part 2 conditions to see if The Mortgage Lender have standard forms of transfer and deed of covenant. Please note that this requirement can change from one transaction to another so do check! Second,When drafting or approving a transfer, you should bear in mind that: although the transfer should state that it is subject to the mortgage (identified by date and parties), it need give no details of the terms of the mortgage; the transfer need not state the amount of the mortgage debt. If it does, the figure should include both principal and interest at the date of completion, which you must check ; there should be no statement that all interest has been paid to date. Further obligations are set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook which have to be followed by all firms on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel

On the basis that your practice in is on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel and you are instructed by them in relation to a leasehold property, you must report to them if it becomes apparent that the landlord is either absent or insolvent. If The Mortgage Lender are to lend, they may require indemnity insurance. In any event,you will need to check The Mortgage Lender’s specific requirements. Notwithstanding whether The Mortgage Lender will lend in such circumstances you still need to advise the borrower (unless you are acting for The Mortgage Lender alone) as to the risks of buying a property with an insolvent or absentee freeholder.

9 consumers attempt to locate a solicitor on the The Mortgage Lender panel every 4 weeks in Hendon. Please contact the team at lenderpanel.com to see how your firm can be identified by those searching for conveyancing in Hendon.

We would recommend that you provide details of the date of removal, information on the reason for removal, date of appeal and any reason given for reinstatement. This should not negatively affect your firm’s application but gives the Law Society viability as to what has occured.

You would be advised to contact The Mortgage Lender to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook incorporates a specific section for lenders to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents. The Mortgage Lender in their Part 2’s state: It is likely that you will need to quote the firm’s The Mortgage Lender solicitors panel number.