Zephyr Mortgages Conveyancing Panel Information

The CML Part II requirements of Zephyr Mortgages are silent on this. Most lenders address the question of file retention via their Terms and Conditions where they generally provide that for evidential purposes, the firm must keep the file for a minimum six 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 membership.

The CLC has begun dialogue with lenders 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. We expect that that the CLC have been in touch with lenders such as Zephyr Mortgages as well as the BSA.

You need to be careful here as what you are intending may not be acceptable to the lender. It is possible that you (as a non-panel firm) or the mortgage applicant are not entitled 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.

The Law Society’s CQS membership 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 approved list of firms. Some Lenders now use CQS as the starting point for Panel acceptance such as Astra Mortgages.

You would be advised to contact Zephyr Mortgages to obtain standard documents. The The Council of Mortgage Lenders Handbook contains an individual question for lenders to set out who to contact to obtain standard documents. Zephyr Mortgages in their Part 2’s state: It helps to quote your Zephyr Mortgages conveyancing panel reference.