Bank of Scotland Private Conveyancing Panel Information

The Council of Mortgage Lender requirements of Bank of Scotland Private are silent on this. Most mortgage companies deal with the question of file retention via their Terms of panel appointment where they generally provide that for evidential purposes, the firm must keep the file for a minimum six years from the date of the mortgage. Data imagining is normally suitable compliance with this requirement. Many lenders point out in that it is the practice of some fraudsters to demand the conveyancing file on completion in order to destroy evidence that may later be used against them. It is therefore important to retain these documents to protect Bank of Scotland Private’s interest. To be absolutely sure of Bank of Scotland Private requirements in this regard please check the Terms and Conditions of Bank of Scotland Private’s conveyancing panel membership.

Although not necessarily published, lenders have varying criteria . We do not hold specific requirements relating to the questions raised as part of the application to be on the Bank of Scotland Private conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):

SRA or equivalent regulator registration number where applicable

Number of lender conveyancing panels the firm is currently on

List of fee-earners who are foreign qualified

Full career history for each licensed conveyancer including registration date with Council of Licensed Conveyancers

top-up split and history of any refusals

Structure of firm and, where applicable, its group

Whether the firm has ever applied for accreditation and the outcome of the application

Charge registration history

List of all those who can sign off the Certificate Of Title

Solicitor

We can't comment specifically on Bank of Scotland Private. 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 buyer client 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 he 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.

In the same way that there is a unique Bank of Scotland Private conveyancing panel most building societies, operate a conveyancing panel for solicitors and other conveyancers that the lender will instruct. Terms and Conditions and criteria for inclusion on a building society conveyancing panel vary from lender-to-lender. Having CQS accreditation may be a requirement. Institutional lenders, such as a building society, is a client and is entitled to instruct the solicitor or conveyancer of its choosing (who, in turn, is free to accept or refuse instructions). Therefore, if lender and borrower cannot agree which solicitor or conveyancer should represent them jointly, they would usually proceed on a separate representation basis. The BSA have not published the equivalent of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Part 3s.

We would recommend that you supply 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 happened.

You would be advised to contact Bank of Scotland Private to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook contains a specific section for banks to cite who to contact to obtain standard documents. Bank of Scotland Private in their Part 2’s state: Please remember to disclose the firm’s Bank of Scotland Private solicitors panel reference.