Virgin 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 Virgin conveyancing panel. Typically lenders need to have full knowledge of a firm including (but not limited to):

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

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

Number of partners per branch of the firm

Areas of Law covered by the firm

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

List of all solicitors within firm

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

top-up split and history of any refusals

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

Charge registration history

When a solicitor is acting for both Virgin 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 Virgin and it may well be prudent you to cease to act for the purchaser as well. You can not tell the Virgin 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 Virgin conveyancing panel status.

Virgin approved solicitors are bound by the Part II instructions relating to Transfer of Equity. These are set out in Section 16.3. First, your firm must approve the form of Transfer of Equity (which should be in the Land Registry's standard form) and, if Virgin require, the deed of covenant on their behalf. You will need to check Virgin CML Part 2 conditions to see if Virgin have standard forms of transfer and deed of covenant. Please note that this requirement can change from one transaction to another so do check! Second,When drafting or approving a transfer, you should bear in mind that: although the transfer should state that it is subject to the mortgage (identified by date and parties), it need give no details of the terms of the mortgage; the transfer need not state the amount of the mortgage debt. If it does, the figure should include both principal and interest at the date of completion, which you must check ; there should be no statement that all interest has been paid to date. Further obligations are set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook which have to be followed by all firms on the Virgin conveyancing panel

On the basis that your practice in is on the Virgin 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 Virgin are to lend, they may require indemnity insurance. In any event,you will need to check Virgin’s specific requirements. Notwithstanding whether Virgin will lend in such circumstances you still need to advise the borrower (unless you are acting for Virgin alone) as to the risks of buying a property with an insolvent or absentee freeholder.

In this situation please explain on the application what steps you have taken to discover the reasons behind cancellation of your Virgin 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 need to communicate with Virgin to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook incorporates an individual question for lenders to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents. Virgin in their Part 2’s state: It is likely that you will need to quote your Virgin solicitors panel reference.