Landbay Partners Conveyancing Panel Information

The Council of Mortgage Lenders, together with Landbay Partners and other members developed a standard set of requirements where a conveyancer is representing a lender such as Landbay Partners alone in a residential conveyancing transaction. These obligations are contained at Part 3 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook and are to be read 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 conveyancer.

We can't comment specifically on Landbay Partners. 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 she 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.

You might expect Landbay Partners via their Part Two conditions to address this but the Handbook makes no mention on time frames. You need to look at the Terms of Landbay Partners’s Conveyancing Panel Appointment that you are bound by. For many lender's these Terms have a provision 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 Landbay Partners informed. Law firms can often compound their problems by not communicating with the lender when there is a delay or problem.

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 Landbay Partners 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 moving forward on this question.

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 Landbay Partners solicitor panel membership. Please remember that it is always important that you complete your insurance forms accurately.

You need to contact Landbay Partners to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook incorporates an individual inquiry for banks to reveal who to contact to obtain standard documents. Landbay Partners in their Part 2’s state: It helps to quote your Landbay Partners solicitors panel number.