Coutts Finance Conveyancing Panel Information

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

You need to be careful 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 at liberty instruct a panel firm of your choice. Lenders such as Nationwide BS make it clear to their panel firms that where a non-panel member firm is instructed by one of their mortgage applicants, the lender will 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.

You will be aware of the trend in recent years for lenders such as Coutts Finance 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 Coutts Finance panel. The situation that you find yourself in is where your client’s purchaser has his/her own lawyer and Coutts Finance have appointed a separate lawyer to act on their behalf where the new UK Finance Part 3 requirements apply. Section 11.1 of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Part 3 requires Coutts Finance’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 Coutts Finance. You will no doubt be required to undertake directly to Coutts Finance’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 Coutts Finance conveyancing panel.

Coutts Finance approved solicitors are bound by the Part II 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 Coutts Finance require, the deed of covenant on their behalf. You will need to check Coutts Finance UK Finance Part 2 conditions to see if Coutts Finance 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 Coutts Finance conveyancing panel

Your insurance brokers are your best port of call to address this question. 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 Coutts Finance solicitor panel membership. Please remember that it is always important that you complete your insurance forms accurately.

You need to get in touch with Coutts Finance to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook includes an explicit question for banks to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents. Coutts Finance in their Part 2’s state: Please remember to disclose your Coutts Finance conveyancing panel reference.