Vida Homeloans Conveyancing Panel Information

No such training is arranged by the CML but they do arrange a number of useful conveyancing related conferences which are attended by firms on the Vida Homeloans conveyancing panel. We do intend to run specific lender focused seminars in the coming months including a webinar on Vida Homeloans’s Part 2 obligations. Law firms on the Vida Homeloans conveyancing panel are welcome. Further details will be made available as part of the LENDERmonitor P2 change Notifications.

As is the case with the Law Society the CLC has begun dialogue with banks and their representative bodies to see whether and how the risks that lenders wish to mitigate could be addressed through the regulatory framework rather than via ad hoc arrangements that can differ from lender to lender. It is likely that that the CLC have been in touch with lenders such as Vida Homeloans in recent years.

We can't comment specifically on Vida Homeloans. Many major lenders are now introducing ‘file auditing’ as standard practice in relation to completed matters. This raises questions of confidentiality in relation to the borrower and the purpose to which the results of such audits will be put. The starting point is to remember that the file does not belong to your firm, it belongs to the ‘client’. But, of course, we will normally have two clients – the buyer and the lender - and you will owe a duty of confidentiality to each. So basically, you have to separate the file and just send the lender the parts solely relating to themselves. But, of course, as this will basically be correspondence with the lender, mortgage instructions etc.

Check with your COLP but a firm should not send the complete conveyancing file without the buyer client’s express consent – and if he is in arrears with the lender he is hardly likely to agree. However, if the lender can establish a prima facie case of fraud, then you may be under an obligation to disclose the whole file.

The emerging convention is that lenders are including an authority to disclose in loan application forms to counter this problem. Mortgage Express v Sawali, [2010] EWHC 3054 (Ch) indicates that such provisions are valid. Please click here for more information about that case.

On the basis that your practice in is on the Vida Homeloans conveyancing panel and you are acting for them in relation to a leasehold property, you must report to them if it becomes apparent that the landlord is either absent or insolvent. If Vida Homeloans are to lend, they may require indemnity insurance. In any event,you will need to check Vida Homeloans’s specific requirements. Notwithstanding whether Vida Homeloans will lend in such circumstances you still need to advise the borrower (unless you are acting for Vida Homeloans alone) as to the risks of buying a property with an insolvent or absentee landlord.

The best placed professionals to answer this question are your insurance brokers. 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 Vida Homeloans solicitor panel membership. Please remember that it is always important that you complete your insurance forms accurately.

You should get in touch with Vida Homeloans to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook has an express question for lenders to reveal who to contact to obtain standard documents. Vida Homeloans in their Part 2’s state: Always remember to quote your Vida Homeloans conveyancing panel reference.