Nottingham Building Society Conveyancing Panel Information

Unlike the CML the Building Society Mortgage Instructions deal with this. Section A.12 states ‘In order to act on our behalf your firm or company must be a member of our conveyancing panel provided we are a society that operates one – see specific requirements for details of our arrangements. The Special Requirements state:

You must also comply with the terms and conditions of your Nottingham Building Society solicitor panel appointment.

This not something that the BSA would traditionally get involved with however they do arrange numerous general legal related conferences which are attended by firms on the Nottingham Building Society conveyancing panel. Lexsure intend to run specific lender focused seminars in the near future including a webinar on Nottingham Building Society’s requirements . Law firms on the Nottingham Building Society conveyancing panel are welcome . Further details will be made available as part of the LENDERmonitor change Notifications .

Each lender has different criteria. We do not hold specific requirements relating to the questions raised as part of the application to be on the Nottingham Building Society conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):

• Whether any lender has ever made a claim against the firm’s PII cover
• Firm name, address and contact details including all branches (including evidence of existence through risk-based physical visits and Google Streetview checks)
• Full complaints history for each conveyancing solicitor
• Whether the firm has ever applied for accreditation and the outcome of the application
• List of all those who fund the firm, including non-lawyers if applicable
• Structure of firm and, where applicable, its group
• Full disciplinary history for each conveyancing solicitor
• List of all those staff who work within the conveyancing team
• Full complaints history for each licensed conveyancer

In order to be on the Nottingham 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 Nottingham Building Society) are as follows:

• That any deeds you borrow from us in connection with the personal mortgage of a partner or director at your firm must be requested by a partner or director other than the partner or director concerned and the transaction must be handled by that other partner or director. If you are a sole practitioner and require the loan of deeds in connection with your own mortgage, you must nominate a different firm on our panel to request the deeds and handle the transaction.
• 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.
• To quote on all communications with us relating to deeds 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.
• To forward the title deeds and documents to another 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 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.)

The answer to this question really depends on the reason that your firm has been removed off the Nottingham 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 needs to consider whether he or she needs to take any action as result of being removed from the conveyancing panel of Nottingham Building Society.

With mortgage companies and solicitors working so closely with one another it is surprising that there has not been greater demand for the introduction of a bit of transparency regarding not just the figures for the Nottingham Building Society conveyancing panel but for all mortgage panel listings

BSA lenders do not come within the top 20 lenders in terms of frequency of questions. The most popular lender panels in terms of questions are as follows:

• Santander Conveyancing Panel
• National Westminster Bank Conveyancing Panel
• Royal Bank of Scotland Conveyancing Panel
• HSBC Conveyancing Panel
• Lloyds Conveyancing Panel

13 consumers search for a conveyancing practitioner on the Nottingham Building Society panel each month in Hendon. The lenderpanel directory service team who will show you how your firm can be found by those searching for conveyancing in Hendon.