Accord Mortgages Conveyancing Panel Information

During 2013, 71 sections of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook P2 were changed by Accord Mortgages. Some changes are more important than others but as a firm on the Accord Mortgages conveyancing panel you are of course obliged to comply with individual lender requirements, as set out in Part II of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. Locktons have recently pointed out in an article that non-compliance with Part 2 requirements account for a number of high value claims, and it is therefore important to be aware of any particularly onerous terms that an individual lender may impose.

Remember: CML requirements are not guidelines; they are the lender client’s instructions.

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

Accord Mortgages approved solicitors 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 Accord Mortgages require, the deed of covenant on their behalf. You will need to check Accord Mortgages CML Part 2 conditions to see if Accord Mortgages 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 Accord Mortgages conveyancing panel

With lenders and solicitors 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 Accord Mortgages conveyancing panel but for all mortgage panel listings

In this situation please clarify on the application what action you have taken to discover the reasons behind cancellation of your Accord Mortgages panel status. In particular please provide details if you have received communications from the lender. E.G. before revocation of your panel membership did you receive any letters or calls from the lender putting you on notice?

You need to get in touch with Accord Mortgages to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook has an express question for banks to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents. Accord Mortgages in their Part 2’s state: You will need to disclose your Accord Mortgages solicitors panel reference.