Find a Law Firm
approved by theMortgageLender

Mortgage companies have always had an approved set of law firms they are willing to work with, but in the past few years big names such as Nationwide , have reviewed and reduced their conveyancing panel– in some cases removing conveyancing firms who have worked with them for decades.

Lenders blame a rise in fraud as the reason for the cull – criteria have been tightened and a smaller panel should be easier to keep an eye on. No lender will say how many solicitors have been dropped, claiming the information is commercially sensitive, but the Law Society says it is being contacted daily by practices that have been removed from panels, or have other concerns about them. Some do not even realise they have been dropped until contacted by a borrower who has instructed them as might be the situation in your buyer’s case. Your purchasers are unlikely to have any sway in the decision.

You should not exchange unless you have advised to do so by your lawyer. A precondition to being on the The Mortgage Lender approved panel is to comply with the CML Handbook requirements (last updated for this lender on The Mortgage Lender). The CML Conveyancing Handbook requires that your lawyer have the appropriate Disclosure of Incentive form completed by the developer and accepted by your lender.

Whereas this was necessary 15 years ago, most lenders no longer require their conveyancing panel solicitor to witness the borrowers signature. You will still be obliged to provide ID Documents and there are still distinct advantages to using a local solicitor, in your case a conveyancing solicitor in Bristol .

If you have an estate agent involved then inform them straight away so that they can let the sellers know that there may be a slight delay due to the problems encountered. Hopefully they will be sympathetic and urge their lawyer to send a new set of papers to your new solicitors. You should appoint new lawyers that are on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel and notify the lender. If you have paid over any money it will hopefully be held by the SRA as money in an intervened firm's bank accounts is transferred to the SRA. Then, the SRA or the intervention agent looks at the intervened firm's accounts to work out who the money belongs to. To claim your money you will need to contact the SRA. If the SRA cannot return money you are owed from the firm's bank accounts, or if they can only return part of the money, you can apply to the Compensation Fund for a grant. Your new solicitors may be able to assist

As long as the conveyancer is on the The Mortgage Lender panel she or he must comply with the CML Handbook requirements for The Mortgage Lender. Unless your lawyer obtains specific confirmation in writing that The Mortgage Lender will go ahead your lawyer has no choice but to refrain from exchanging contract and committing you to the purchase. We would suggest that you ask The Mortgage Lender to contact your lawyer in writing confirming that they will accept the remaining number of years left on the lease.

They are simply saying that the cost for acting for the lender is included in the fee being quoted. It is worth you checking that they are on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel

It is not that case that all Hendon conveyancing practices are on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel. 7 people a month use our search tool to find a Hendon conveyancing firm on the on the The Mortgage Lender approved list of lawyers.