Together Personal Finance Conveyancing Panel Information

Together Personal Finance’s answer to this question can be found at section 6.4.4 of their CML Part 2 requirements

This not something that the CML would traditionally get involved with but they do host a number of useful legal related conferences which are attended by firms on the Together Personal Finance conveyancing panel. Lexsure intend to run specific lender focused seminars in the coming months including a webinar on Together Personal Finance’s Part 2 requirements. Practitioners on the Together Personal Finance conveyancing panel are welcome. Information about the webinar will be communicated as part of the LENDERmonitor Alerts.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders, together with Together Personal Finance and other lenders created a standard set of requirements where a conveyancer is acting for a lender such as Together Personal Finance alone in a residential conveyancing matter. These obligations are contained at Part Three of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook and are to be followed in conjunction with Sections One and Two. The CML have published an example requirements letter to the borrower’s lawyer for use by the lender's conveyancer, and sets out to the borrower's conveyancer, the documentary and information requirements of the lender's panel lawyer.

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

In the circumstances please clarify on the application what steps you have taken to discover the reasons behind cancellation of your Together Personal Finance 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 informing you as to why they reached this decision?

You should get in touch with Together Personal Finance to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook incorporates a specific question for lenders to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents. Together Personal Finance in their Part 2’s state: You will need to disclose the firm’s Together Personal Finance solicitors panel number.