West Bromwich Mortgage Company 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 West Bromwich Mortgage Company solicitor panel appointment.

The BSA Mortgage Instructions state that the firm must keep the file for at least 6 years from the date of the mortgage. Data imaging is normally suitable compliance with this requirement. As a firm on the West Bromwich Mortgage Company conveyancing panel you must allow West Bromwich Mortgage Company to conduct such reasonable audit of your information security measures as West Bromwich Mortgage Company or their agents may to ensure your compliance with your file retention obligations.

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

• Firm name, address and contact details including all branches (including evidence of existence through risk-based physical visits and Google Streetview checks)
• Whether the firm has ever accepted instructions in respect of property clubs and investment schemes
• 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 complaints history for each licensed conveyancer
• SRA or equivalent regulator registration number where applicable
• List of all those staff who work within the conveyancing team
• List of all Licensed Conveyancers within firm
• Solicitor client account(s) details
• Full career history for each solicitor including admission date to the relevant Law Society
• Number of partners per branch of the firm

In order to be on the West Bromwich Mortgage Company 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 West Bromwich Mortgage Company) are as follows:

• If you are a sole practitioner, to arrange for appropriate locum cover from our panel where necessary. Your locum must be a member of the Conveyancing panel.
• To carry out our instructions with reasonable care and skill, ensuring that all employees carrying out mortgage work on our behalf are qualified and competent to do so
• 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.)
• 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.
• Without prejudice to your obligation to comply in full with the Safeguards provisions in the BSA Lenders’ Handbook, to report to us as soon as possible any suspicion that you have about the genuineness of any transaction in any respect.

The answer to this question really depends on the reason that your firm has been removed off the West Bromwich Mortgage Company 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 COLP 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 West Bromwich Mortgage Company.

When a solicitor is acting for both West Bromwich Mortgage Company 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 your situation, if the purchaser will not consent to the information being passed on to the lender, the solicitor must cease to act for West Bromwich Mortgage Company and it may well be prudent for you to cease to act for the purchaser as well. You must not inform West Bromwich Mortgage Company of 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 West Bromwich Mortgage Company conveyancing panel status.

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