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

List of fee-earners who are foreign qualified

Areas of Law covered by the firm

Details of any accreditation e.g. Lexcel or

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

Full disciplinary history for each licensed conveyancer

Full complaints history for each conveyancing solicitor

Charge registration history

conveyancer client account(s) details

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

SRA or equivalent regulator registration number where applicable

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

The key here is the caveat ‘more onerous’. You have to try and take an objective view as to whether the Terms relating to the Zephyr Mortgages conveyancing appointment (or other terms for other lenders) are ‘more onerous’ than the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook Conditions. Depending on the Terms you may need to provide details on your renewal form. If you are in any doubt please call your broker to discuss before moving forward on this question.

5 consumers attempt to locate a solicitor on the Zephyr Mortgages panel on a monthly basis in Hendon. Feel free to contact the Lexsure team who will tell how your firm can be identified by those searching for conveyancing in Hendon.

CQS accreditation gives no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless the CML have indicated that it is likely to become a prerequisite for firms wishing to join their panels. Some Lenders now use CQS as the starting point for Panel approval such as Astra Mortgages.

You would be advised to contact Zephyr Mortgages to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook includes an express question for banks to enumerate who to contact to obtain standard documents. Zephyr Mortgages in their Part 2’s state: It is likely that you will need to quote your Zephyr Mortgages solicitors panel number.