Landbay Partners Conveyancing Panel Information

In operating open conveyancing panels, lenders such as Landbay Partners face a number of fraud and negligence risks. While there is no authoritative source of data on lender exposure to solicitor–led mortgage fraud, anecdotal evidence from lenders indicates exposure on individual cases are often in the millions of pounds. The National Fraud Authority estimates that £1bn per year is lost in mortgage -related frauds in total, which is seen as a conservative estimate.

These risks are exacerbated by the lack of a comprehensive set of data on all conveyancing firms (which, for the avoidance of doubt, would include solicitors and conveyancers across the UK) which is in a readily accessible format. Currently, lenders vet the suitability of their panel firms against a variety of disparate, incomplete and potentially inaccurate sets of information. One top 5 lender pointed out to us that it is almost impossible to track individual fraudsters who move from firm to firm, especially where they are no longer registered or no longer hold a valid practicing certificate.

Landbay Partners and other lenders are in varying stages of reviewing their approach to vetting firms on their conveyancing panels, to ensure their ongoing exposure to unsuitable firms is reduced. There is also regulatory impetus on lenders to ensure that they have satisfactory oversight of their third party panels, including a due-diligence process.

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 Landbay Partners as at todays date. If you're about to receive instructions from a client on a buy to let purchase with a mortgage from Landbay Partners we suggest that you call Landbay Partners to check the position.

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

With mortgage companies and property lawyers working so closely with one another it is surprising that there has not been much call for the introduction of a bit of transparency regarding not just the figures for the Landbay Partners conveyancing panel but for all bank panels

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 get in touch with Landbay Partners to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook contains a specific inquiry for lenders to enumerate who to contact to obtain standard documents. Landbay Partners in their Part 2’s state: Don’t forget to disclose your Landbay Partners solicitors panel number.