Ecology Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

You might expect Ecology Building Society via their Part 2 conditions to address this but the Handbook is silent on time frames. Do look at the Terms of Ecology Building Society’s Conveyancing Panel Appointment that you entered into. For many lender's these Terms include a clause along the following lines: ‘To keep us informed of the reasons for any delay in your being able to send the title deeds and documents we require to us within 3 months of completion or evidence of proof of registration within that period. (We will send reminders if the deeds have not been received but will not acknowledge receipt of deeds’ It is important to keep Ecology Building Society updated. Law firms can often compound their problems by not communicating with the lender when there is a delay or problem.

When a solicitor is acting for both Ecology 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 the situation you find yourself in if the purchaser will not consent to the information being passed on to the lender the solicitor must cease to act for the Ecology Building Society and it may well be prudent you to cease to act for the purchaser as well. You can not tell the Ecology Building Society 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 Ecology Building Society conveyancing panel status.

You have a number of obligations in this regard which are to followed if you wish to comply with your lender client’s instructions as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. (a) You must take reasonable steps to verify that there are no discrepancies between the description of the property as valued and the title and other documents which a reasonably competent conveyancer should obtain, and, if there are, you must tell Ecology Building Society immediately. Second, You should take reasonable steps to verify that the assumptions stated by the valuer about the title (for example, its tenure, easements, boundaries and restrictions on its use) in the valuation and as stated in Ecology Building Society’s mortgage offer are correct. If they are not, please let Ecology Building Society know as soon as possible as it will be necessary for Ecology Building Society to check with the valuer whether the valuation needs to be revised. Ecology Building Society conveyancing panel solicitors are not expected to assume the role of valuer. Ecology Building Society are simply trying to ensure that the valuer has valued the property based on correct information. Thirdly, Ecology Building Society recommend that you should advise the borrower that there may be defects in the property which are not revealed by the inspection carried out by their valuer and there may be omissions or inaccuracies in the report which do not matter to them as a lender but which would matter to the borrower. Ecology Building Society recommend that, if we send a copy of a valuation report that Ecology Building Society have obtained, you should also advise the borrower that the borrower should not rely on the report in deciding whether to proceed with the purchase and that he obtains his own more detailed report on the condition and value of the property, based on a fuller inspection such as a homebuyers report or structural survey. If you do not receive a copy of the valuation you can always ask for a copy of one from Ecology Building Society or the borrower. You still need to comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Requirement relating to valuation reports even if you don't receive one directly. Failure to comply not only runs the risk of facing a claim by the lender but also being removed from the Ecology Building Society conveyancing panel

In this situation please clarify on the application what steps you have taken to discover the reasons behind cancellation of your Ecology Building Society panel status. In particular please provide details if you have received communications from the lender. E.G. before revocation of your panel membership did you receive any letters or calls from the lender putting you on notice?

You need to get in touch with Ecology Building Society to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook includes an explicit question for banks to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents. Ecology Building Society in their Part 2’s state: You will need to quote the firm’s Ecology Building Society solicitors panel reference.