Reliance Bank Conveyancing Panel Information

Although not necessarily published, lenders have varying criteria . We do not hold specific requirements relating to the questions raised as part of the application to be on the Reliance Bank conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):

conveyancer client account(s) details

Summary of annual accounts

List of fee-earners who are foreign qualified

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

List of all those staff who work within the conveyancing team

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.

Full career history for each solicitor including admission date to the relevant Law Society

Number of lender conveyancing panels the firm is currently on

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

Full complaints history for each conveyancing solicitor

In operating open conveyancing panels, lenders such as Reliance Bank face a number of fraud and negligence risks. While there is no authoritative source of data on lender exposure to solicitor–led mortgage fraud, anecdotal evidence from lenders indicates exposure on individual cases are often in the millions of pounds. The National Fraud Authority estimates that £1bn per year is lost in mortgage -related frauds in total, which is seen as a conservative estimate.

These risks are exacerbated by the lack of a comprehensive set of data on all conveyancing firms (which, for the avoidance of doubt, would include solicitors and conveyancers across the UK) which is in a readily accessible format. Currently, lenders vet the suitability of their panel firms against a variety of disparate, incomplete and potentially inaccurate sets of information. One top 5 lender pointed out to us that it is almost impossible to track individual fraudsters who move from firm to firm, especially where they are no longer registered or no longer hold a valid practicing certificate.

Reliance Bank and other lenders are in varying stages of reviewing their approach to vetting firms on their conveyancing panels, to ensure their ongoing exposure to unsuitable firms is reduced. There is also regulatory impetus on lenders to ensure that they have satisfactory oversight of their third party panels, including a due-diligence process.

The answer to this question really depends on the reason that your firm has been removed off the Reliance Bank 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 should give some thought to whether she/he needs to take any action as result of being removed from the Reliance Bank conveyancing panel.

There are various requirements you need to follow 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 Reliance Bank immediately. (b) 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 Reliance Bank’s mortgage offer are correct. If they are not, please let Reliance Bank know as soon as possible as it will be necessary for Reliance Bank to check with the valuer whether the valuation needs to be revised. Reliance Bank conveyancing panel solicitors are not expected to assume the role of valuer. Reliance Bank are simply trying to ensure that the valuer has valued the property based on correct information. Thirdly, Reliance Bank 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. Reliance Bank recommend that, if we send a copy of a valuation report that Reliance Bank 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 Reliance Bank 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 Reliance Bank conveyancing panel

In the circumstances please clarify on the form what steps you have taken to find out the reasons behind cancellation of your Reliance Bank panel status. In particular please provide details if you have received communications from the lender. E.G. before termination of your panel membership did you receive any letters or calls from the lender putting you on notice?

You would be advised to contact Reliance Bank to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook contains an explicit question for banks to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents. Reliance Bank in their Part 2’s state: Please remember to disclose the firm’s Reliance Bank solicitors panel reference.