Tuesday, 18 April 2017

CML Handbook - Staying on Top of Changes

All mainstream lenders provide their instructions to property lawyers via the CML Handbook or BSA mortgage instructions. Understanding a specific lender’s requirements and keeping up-to-date with changes can be a time-consuming manual process, particularly given that individual requirements can change on a daily basis.


In not addressing or overlooking a lender’s requirements, a solicitor or conveyancer risks being sued by the lender for the full value of the mortgage and their firm could be removed from the lender panel. The previous SRA thematic review into conveyancing revealed that a quarter of firms surveyed had experienced professional negligence claims relating to conveyancing work in the two years.


This free webinar focuses on the more important changes in the last 6 months. It will also highlight trends that are emerging when it comes to lender behaviour in particular in relation to certain types of ‘problematic properties’ for example: short leases, absentee landlords, defective leases etc.


The webinar is scheduled to last half an hour and will be split into four sections.


  • Key statistics and figures in relation to CML Handbook changes (for example most common section changed etc)
  • Significant CML Part 2 Changes in the last six months
  • Trends that are emerging - examples of how lenders react to new and emerging risk by adapting their Part 2 requirements
  • Demonstration of new Technologies are available to assist in CML Handbook compliance


For more information on dates and how to register, please click here.

Tuesday, 4 April 2017

Reports on Title : How do You Find the Time?

Almost all conveyancing lawyers complain of not having enough hours in the day or being under significant time pressure. For many, there exists a feeling of being stretched or overworked.

Few would challenge the sentiment that conveyancing has become more complex in the last twenty years. Simultaneously, the industry has witnessed an increased demand for speed of transaction and better communication. Long gone are the days when there were four weeks in between exchange and completion, which believe it or not, was the norm in the mid 90’s.

With so many parties placing demands during the working day when is the conveyancing lawyer supposed to find the time - often in excess of an hour - to generate the single most important document in the purchase transaction, namely the Report on Title?

For many, the only option is to arrive at the office early or stay late or work over the weekend when the frequency of  phones or emails dies down. For others it’s booking one of the board-rooms to shut themselves off to concentrate on drafting such a crucial document.

Hardly surprising that a conveyancer can often be heard explaining to an agent or client ‘I have everything I need we just need to report to the client’. Whist that is said out loud, the internal voice is probably asking ‘how the hell am I going  to find the time to draft this report?’

Recent seminars and webinars by Lexsure have focused on ways to improve the workflow for generating a report on title not just from a speed perspective - reducing the process to a matter of  minutes - but also highlighting ways of improving risk management.

The April webinars are fully booked with 600 registrants but personal on-line demonstrations of the new e-ROT technology are now being offered. Firms can book a demo here.