Dudley Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

We only know of two or three lenders that operate a distinct conveyancing panel where the mortgage advance is over a certain threshold. You should nevertheless check directly with Dudley Building Society. At one stage HSBC would only allow Sole practitioners to act for them where the mortgage was below £150,000. We are not sure if HSBC still operate such a condition. In your case it is best to check with Dudley Building Society

The majority of 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 Dudley Building Society as at todays date. If you're about to receive instructions from a client on a buy to let purchase with a mortgage from Dudley Building Society we suggest that you call Dudley Building Society to check the position.

The answer to this question really depends on the reason that your firm has been removed off the Dudley Building Society conveyancing panel. The top 3 reasons are as follows:

1. lack of transactions
2. the lawyer is a sole practitioner
3. as part of the HSBC panel reduction.

In these three circumstances it is unlikely that you would expected to take any action. Disclosure and other compliance considerations are more likely to be relevant if the reason for removal is due to breaches of lender requirements or allegations of fraud or negligence. Whether the reasoning should trigger a disclosable 'material' breach will depend on the firm and the circumstances around possible failures to comply with the SRA Authorisation Rules, and the SRA will judge each case on its own merits. Factors such as the detriment or risk of detriment to clients, the scale of the issue and overall impact on the firm will need to be considered in deciding whether a failure is 'material'. As the compliance officer you will need systems to identify patterns of breaches. Even if you don't consider there to be regulatory implications the firms COFA should give some thought to whether she/he needs to take any action as result of being removed from the Dudley Building Society conveyancing panel.

Dudley Building Society approved panel lawyers 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 Dudley Building Society require, the deed of covenant on their behalf. You will need to check Dudley Building Society CML Part 2 conditions to see if Dudley Building Society 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 Dudley Building Society conveyancing panel

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 application but gives the Law Society viability as to what has gone on.

You would be advised to contact Dudley Building Society to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook has a specific inquiry for banks to reveal who to contact to obtain standard documents. Dudley Building Society in their Part 2’s state: Don’t forget to disclose the firm’s Dudley Building Society solicitors panel number.