ModaMortgages Conveyancing Panel Information

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (or the BSA) do not involve themselves in training however they do host numerous useful conveyancing related conferences which are attended by firms on the ModaMortgages conveyancing panel. We do intend to run specific lender focused seminars in the coming months including a webinar on ModaMortgages’s Part 2 requirements. Solicitors on the ModaMortgages conveyancing panel are welcome. Further details will be made available as part of the LENDERmonitor Alerts.

The Scottish Law Society has advised that solicitors should check their lender panel status prior to accepting client instructions to act. The advice is lender-agnostic as it does not relate specifically to solicitors on the ModaMortgages conveyancing panel. The recommendation arises from the practice of a number of mortgage lenders who remove solicitors from their panels without prior notice as part of their panel management system, which can lead to some solicitors discovering this only once instructed. This is sensible advice as a client finding out midway through a transaction that their lawyer is not on the approved lender panel is very frustrating and can lead to complaints. Many online consumer forums contain posts where someone is complaining about finding that their lawyer is not on a lender conveyancing panel. Such forums include moneysavingexpert.com

You might expect ModaMortgages via their Part Two obligations to address this but the Handbook is silent on deadlines to send deeds. You need to look at the Terms of ModaMortgages’s Conveyancing Panel Appointment that you previously signed. For a number of banks these Terms contain a clause such as: ‘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 ModaMortgages updated. Law firms can often compound their problems by not communicating with the lender when there is a delay or problem.

The key here is the caveat ‘more onerous’. You have to try and take an objective view as to whether the Terms relating to the ModaMortgages conveyancing appointment (or other terms for other lenders) are ‘more onerous’ than the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Conditions. Depending on the Terms you may need to provide details on your renewal form. If you are in any doubt please call your broker to discuss before moving forward on this question.

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 ModaMortgages solicitor panel membership. Please remember that it is always important that you complete your insurance forms accurately.

You should communicate with ModaMortgages to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook has a specific inquiry for banks to enumerate who to contact to obtain standard documents. ModaMortgages in their Part 2’s state: It helps to disclose the firm’s ModaMortgages conveyancing panel number.