Find an Approved Solicitor on the The Mortgage Lender Limited
Conveyancing Panel
The Mortgage Lender Solicitor Panel Recently Asked Questions
My fiance and I are FTBs. Within the last couple of days our property lawyer has forwarded the sale agreement to sign with a detailed report with a view to exchanging next week. The Mortgage Lender have this evening contacted us to advise us that there is now an issue as our lawyer is not on their approved list of lawyers. Is this a problem?
When purchasing a property with the benefit of a mortgage it is usual for the purchaser's solicitors to also act for the purchaser's lender.
In order to act for a bank or building society a law firm has to be on that lender's conveyancing panel. An application has to be made by the law firm to the lender to become a member of the lender's panel and there are increasingly strict criteria which the firm has to satisfy and indeed some lenders now require their panel members to be part of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme.
Your solicitors should contact The Mortgage Lender and see if they can apply for membership of the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel, but if that is not viable The Mortgage Lender will instruct their own solicitors to act. You are not legally obliged to appoint a law firm on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel as you are at liberty to use your preferred lawyers, in which case your legal fees may increase, and it may delay matters as you have another set of people involved.
I am buying a brand new apartment and my conveyancer is advising me that she is duty bound to disclose incentives from the builder as her firm is on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel. I am under pressure to exchange contracts and I dont want to prolong deal. Is my lawyer right?
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.
Are there any apps to help find a local solicitor on the The Mortgage Lender conveyancing panel? I have a car and am prepared to travel up to 25 kilometers to meet the lawyer.
Feel free to make use of the find a conveyancing panel search on this website. Please choose the lender and your location and you will see a number of lawyer located nearest you. Alternatively you can type in the name of your proposed law firm and see if they are listed as being on the The Mortgage Lender solicitor panel.
Can you clarify what the consequences are if my lawyer’s firm is suspended from the The Mortgage Lender Solicitor panel prior to completion?
The first thing to point out is that, this is a very rare occurrence. In most cases even where a law firm is removed off of a panel the lender would allow the completion to go ahead as the lender would appreciate the difficulties that they would place you in if you have ti instruct a new solicitor days before completion. In a worst case scenario where the lender insists that you instruct a new firm then it is possible for a very good lawyer to expedite the conveyancing albeit that you may pay a significant premium for this. The analogous situation is where a buyer instructs a lawyer, exchanges contracts and the law firm is shut down by the regulator such as the SRA. Again, in this situation you can find lawyers who can troubleshoot their way to bring the conveyancing to a satisfactory conclusion - albeit at a cost.
When it comes to mortgage companies such as The Mortgage Lender do lawyers have to be pay a fee to be on the list of approved solicitors?
We are not aware of any lender fees to be on their panel although some do charge an administration charge to deal with the processing of the conveyancing panel application.
I had instructed online conveyancers based in Birmingham who are on the The Mortgage Lender solicitor panel. They are now charging me a separate fee of £150 for dealing with the The Mortgage Lender mortgage. Is this an additional conveyancing fee set by The Mortgage Lender?
Unfortunately, as long as it is in their Terms and Conditions or Quote then yes your solicitors can charge a fee for this. This fee is not set by The Mortgage Lender but by your lawyers. Some firms on the The Mortgage Lender will charge an ‘acting for lender’ fee and others do not.
Sometime soon me and my wife are buying a penthouse in Hendon. Conveyancing solicitors in Hendon are preferred to beappointed. My motherrecommended that we make sure that the property lawyer in Hendon is on the The Mortgage Lender approved list of lawyers. Is this really necessary?
Far from 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 practitioner on the on the The Mortgage Lender list of approved conveyancing firms.