Precise Mortgages Conveyancing Panel Information

Criteria differ from lender to lender. We do not hold specific requirements relating to the questions raised as part of the application to be on the Precise Mortgages conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):

Whether the firm has ever applied for accreditation and the outcome of the application

Full disciplinary history for each conveyancing solicitor

House price discrepancies (declared to lender vs. registered at Land Registry)

Firm name, address and contact details including all branches (including evidence of existence through risk-based physical visits and Google Streetview checks)

PII Cover details, including, if relevant, whether the firm is or has been in the assigned risks pool and structure of cover – basic

Solicitor

Whether the firm has ever knowingly accepted instructions on transactions involving Sale and Rent Back, Back to Back, Exchange and Delayed Completion and Lease Option, Below Market Value.

Whether the firm has ever accepted instructions in respect of property clubs and investment schemes

Full career history for each licensed conveyancer including registration date with Council of Licensed Conveyancers

List of all those who fund the firm, including non-lawyers if applicable

During 2013, 27 sections of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook P2 were changed by Precise Mortgages. Some changes are more important than others but as a firm on the Precise Mortgages conveyancing panel you are of course obliged to comply with individual lender requirements, as set out in Part II of the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook. Locktons have recently pointed out in an article that non-compliance with Part 2 requirements account for a number of high value claims, and it is therefore important to be aware of any particularly onerous terms that an individual lender may impose.

Remember: CML requirements are not guidelines; they are the lender client’s instructions.

When a solicitor is acting for both Precise Mortgages 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 Precise Mortgages and it may well be prudent you to cease to act for the purchaser as well. You can not tell the Precise Mortgages 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 Precise Mortgages 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 Precise Mortgages immediately. (II) 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 Precise Mortgages’s mortgage offer are correct. If they are not, please let Precise Mortgages know as soon as possible as it will be necessary for Precise Mortgages to check with the valuer whether the valuation needs to be revised. Precise Mortgages conveyancing panel solicitors are not expected to assume the role of valuer. Precise Mortgages are simply trying to ensure that the valuer has valued the property based on correct information. (III) Precise Mortgages 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. Precise Mortgages recommend that, if we send a copy of a valuation report that Precise Mortgages 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 Precise Mortgages 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 Precise Mortgages conveyancing panel

In the circumstances please explain on the form what steps you have taken to discover the reasons behind cancellation of your Precise Mortgages 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 informing you as to why they reached this decision?

You should contact Precise Mortgages to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook includes a specific inquiry for banks to cite who to contact to obtain standard documents. Precise Mortgages in their Part 2’s state: It helps to quote your Precise Mortgages conveyancing panel reference.