Zephyr Mortgages Conveyancing Panel Information

The Scottish Law Society has suggested that solicitors should check their panel status with lenders prior to accepting client instructions to act. The advice is lender-agnostic as it does not relate specifically to solicitors on the Zephyr Mortgages conveyancing panel. The recommendation arises from the practice of a number of mortgage lenders who remove solicitors from their panels without prior notice as part of their panel management system, which can lead to some solicitors discovering this only once instructed. This is sensible advice as a client finding out midway through a transaction that their lawyer is not on the approved lender panel is very frustrating and can lead to complaints. Many online consumer forums contain posts where someone is complaining about finding that their lawyer is not on a lender conveyancing panel. Such forums include moneysavingexpert.com

The Council of Mortgage Lender requirements of Zephyr Mortgages are silent on this. Most mortgage companies deal with the issue of file retention via their Terms of panel appointment where they generally provide that for evidential purposes, the firm must keep the file for at least of 6 years from the date of the mortgage. Data imagining is normally suitable compliance with this requirement. Many lenders point out in that it is the practice of some fraudsters to demand the conveyancing file on completion in order to destroy evidence that may later be used against them. It is therefore important to retain these documents to protect Zephyr Mortgages’s interest. To be absolutely sure of Zephyr Mortgages requirements in this regard please check the Terms and Conditions of Zephyr Mortgages’s conveyancing panel acceptance.

Please tread carefully here as what you are proposing may not be acceptable to the mortgage company. It is possible that you (as a non-panel firm) or the mortgage applicant are not at liberty instruct a panel firm of your choice. An increasing amount of lenders are making it clear to their panel firms that where a non-panel member firm is instructed by one of their mortgage applicants, the lender will appoint a panel firm to carry out its instructions and to liaise with the borrower's conveyancer. You also need to make the costs implications and potential for delay very clear to your client.

For most lenders participation on the lender's panel of conveyancers is at the absolute discretion of the the lender. Many lenders reserve the right to accept or reject any application without giving any reason. You should check your original application to join the Zephyr Mortgages conveyancing panel to see if you are entitled to a reason.

CQS membership is no guarantee to lender panel acceptance. Nevertheless the Council of Mortgage Lenders have indicated that it is likely to become a prerequisite for firms wishing to remain on their panels. A number of Lenders now use the Conveyancing Quality Scheme accreditation as the starting point for Panel approval as is the case with Santander.

You need to communicate with Zephyr Mortgages to obtain standard documents. The CML Handbook contains a specific section for banks to establish who to contact to obtain standard documents. Zephyr Mortgages in their Part 2’s state: It is likely that you will need to disclose the firm’s Zephyr Mortgages conveyancing panel number.