Dudley Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

In order to be on the Dudley Building Society conveyancing panel solicitors have to complete an application form and agree Terms and Conditions. A sample of 5 conditions that we see amongst many lenders Terms (but not necessarily Dudley Building Society) are as follows:

• To quote on all communications with us relating to deeds/registration issues, whether by telephone or in writing, the panel number that we provide for each practising address and the mortgage account or application number for the mortgage concerned.
• If you are a sole practitioner, to arrange for appropriate locum cover from our panel where necessary. Your locum must be a member of the Conveyancing panel.
• To forward the title deeds and documents to another solicitor/conveyancer within 24 hours of an instruction from us requiring you to do so. On forwarding the deeds as instructed you will confirm to us that you have done so. Upon receipt of your confirmation, we will release you from all undertakings relating to your holding the title deeds.
• To notify us in writing of any change in your details as held on our records for example, change of address, telephone number, document exchange number email address. Notification must be given to us at least 10 days before the change will be effective.
• To be responsible for the reconstitution of the title deeds (whether the title is registered or unregistered, at your own cost), where any deeds in your possession, or were last known to be in your possession, go missing.

In the same way that there is a unique Dudley 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. The BSA have not published the equivalent of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Part 3s.

Dudley Building Society approved panel lawyers are bound by 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

Assuming that your firm in is on the Dudley Building Society conveyancing panel and you are instructed by them in relation to a leasehold property, you must report to them if it becomes apparent that the landlord is either absent or insolvent. If Dudley Building Society are to lend, they may require indemnity insurance. In any event,you will need to check Dudley Building Society’s specific requirements. Notwithstanding whether Dudley Building Society will lend in such circumstances you still need to advise the borrower (unless you are acting for Dudley Building Society alone) as to the risks of buying a property with an insolvent or absentee landlord.

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 Law Society viability as to what has occured.

You need to communicate with Dudley Building Society to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook contains a specific question for banks to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents. Dudley Building Society in their Part 2’s state: It is likely that you will need to quote the firm’s Dudley Building Society conveyancing panel reference.