Looking for information about your firm's panel status?
Cambridge Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information:
What are the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel criteria?
Unlike the CML the Building Society Mortgage Instructions deal with this. Section A.12 states ‘In order to act on our behalf your firm or company must be a member of our conveyancing panel provided we are a society that operates one – see specific requirements for details of our arrangements.
The Special Requirements state:
The minimum criteria for appointment to our panel are:
- At least two qualified partners who hold current Law Society practising certificates
- The practice must be listed in the Law Society or Council for Licensed Conveyancers directories
- The firm must have a minimum of £2 million professional indemnity cover
You must also comply with the terms and conditions of your Cambridge Building Society solicitor panel appointment.
Do Cambridge Building Society or the BSA run CPD Courses for the Cambridge Building Society approved conveyancing panel in much the same way that the Law Society run cases for CQS accedited practices?
This not something that the BSA would traditionally get involved with however they do organise a number of useful conveyancing related conferences which are attended by firms on the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel. It is our intention to run specific lender focused seminars in the coming months including a webinar on Cambridge Building Society’s obligations . Practitioners on the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel are welcome . Information about the webinar will be communicated as part of the LENDERmonitor change Notifications .
Does the fact that my firm has signed up to Alerts via this site help in my application to join the Cambridge Building Society solicitor panel?
The requirements to join the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel is likely to be fairly detailed and is unlikely to include signing up to LENDERmonitor alerts.
Who do building societies include on their conveyancing panel?
In the same way that there is a unique Cambridge Building Society 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.
My practice have never been on the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel among other banks . My clients, who are getting a mortgage with Cambridge Building Society would still like to instruct me even though I am not on the Cambridge Building Society panel. Am I doing anything wrong is suggesting to my client that they use a firm down the road to represent Cambridge Building Society on mortgage aspect of the conveyancing?
Please tread carefully here as what you are suggesting may not be acceptable to the mortgage company.
It is possible that you (as a non-panel firm) or the mortgage applicant are not entitled instruct a panel firm of your choice. Many lenders make it clear to their panel firms that where a non-panel member firm is instructed by one of their mortgage applicants, the lender must appoint a panel firm to carry out its instructions and to liaise with the borrower's conveyancing firm.
You also need to make the costs implications and potential for delay very clear to your client.
I recently attended a seminar arranged via my PI broker where it was mentioned that solicitors are being sued for non-compliance with BSA Mortgage Instructions. I am on the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel. Can you tell me how many Specific Requirement changes took place by Cambridge Building Society during 2013?
During this period 19 sections of the BSA Mortgage Instructions were changed by Cambridge Building Society. Some changes are more important than others but as a firm on the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel you are of course obliged to comply with individual lender requirements. Locktons have recently pointed out in an article that non-compliance with lender 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: BSA requirements are not guidelines; they are the lender client’s instructions.
My firm is on the Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel. I am
dealing with Cambridge Building Society mortgage on a purchase. My
borrower client is asking not to disclose an issue to Cambridge Building Society. What do I do in this conflict situation?
When a solicitor is acting for both Cambridge Building Society 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 your situation, if the purchaser will not consent to the information being passed on to the lender, the solicitor must cease to act for Cambridge Building Society and it may well be prudent for you to cease to act for the purchaser as well. You must not inform Cambridge Building Society of 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 Cambridge Building Society conveyancing panel status.
What lender panels do you receive the most questions about?
BSA lenders do not come within the top 20 lenders in terms of
frequency of questions. The most popular lender panels in terms of
questions are as follows:
Find a Lawyer on the Cambridge Building Society Approved Conveyancing Solicitors
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Average number of days to register title including a charge in favour of Cambridge Building Society
This information relates to purchase only and not remortgages.
| Year | Days* |
|---|---|
| 2024 | [no data] |
| 2023 | [no data] |
| 2022 | [no data] |
| 2021 | [no data] |
| 2020 | [no data] |
| 2019 | [no data] |
* Data aggregated from sources including COMPLETIONmonitor
Other related topics:
- CQS policy templates and procedures for accredited Cambridge Building Society Firms
- Draft Report on Title precedent for Cambridge Building Society borrowers
- Draft Anti Money Laundering PolicyTemplate for Cambridge Building Society panel firms to consider
- Dealing with Lender Policy Template panel for CQS accredited firms on the Cambridge Building Society lender panel
- Buy-to-Let help for Cambridge Building Society
- Consent-to-Let help for Cambridge Building Society
- Contractor Mortgages with Cambridge Building Society
