Paragon Mortgages Ltd Conveyancing Panel Information

The Scottish Law Society 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 Paragon Mortgages Ltd 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 concern here is if you are expect to enter into ‘more onerous’ conditions that than the Handbook obligations. You have to try and take an objective view as to whether the Terms relating to the Paragon Mortgages Ltd conveyancing appointment (or other terms for other lenders) are ‘more onerous’ than the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Conditions. Depending on the Terms you may need to provide details on your renewal form. If you are in any doubt please call your broker to discuss before completing the answer.

When a solicitor is acting for both Paragon Mortgages Ltd and borrower there is potential for conflicts to arise. You owe duties to both clients. All information received by you from your client is confidential and cannot be disclosed without the client’s consent. In the situation you find yourself in if the purchaser will not consent to the information being passed on to the lender the solicitor must cease to act for the Paragon Mortgages Ltd and it may well be prudent you to cease to act for the purchaser as well. You can not tell the Paragon Mortgages Ltd the reason for termination of the retainer over and above the fact that a conflict has arisen. The fact that you can no longer act should alert even the most somnambulistic of lenders that something is wrong with the borrower and/or purchase. The fact that you have disinstructed yourself should not affect your Paragon Mortgages Ltd conveyancing panel status.

Assuming that your firm in is on the Paragon Mortgages Ltd conveyancing panel and you are representing 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 Paragon Mortgages Ltd are to lend, they may require indemnity insurance. In any event,you will need to check Paragon Mortgages Ltd’s specific requirements. Notwithstanding whether Paragon Mortgages Ltd will lend in such circumstances you still need to advise the borrower (unless you are acting for Paragon Mortgages Ltd alone) as to the risks of buying a property with an insolvent or absentee landlord.

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 adversely impact your firm’s application but gives the CQS team viability as to what has gone on.

You should contact Paragon Mortgages Ltd to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook incorporates an express question for banks to cite who to contact to obtain standard documents. Paragon Mortgages Ltd in their Part 2’s state: It is likely that you will need to quote your Paragon Mortgages Ltd solicitors panel reference.