Category: CQS Policy Templates
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Lender File Requests: Do you feel lucky?
Receiving a letter from a lender requesting a number of your firm’s conveyancing files is like playing out the “Do You Feel Lucky” scene from the movie Dirty Harry. One day things feel great in the conveyancing department and the next day the pesky lender – a ‘so called’ client – is on your case.…
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Lender Audits and the Prophet of Doom
I’m a specialist in risk, so I can sometimes be accused of being a little conservative in outlook, even for a lawyer. But I suspect that this blog post will have some lawyers reaching for their thesaurus to find stronger words, like “worrier”, “pessimist” or even “doom-monger”. I’m sticking my neck out today to predict…
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Search Insurance : What The Mortgage Lender Says
In the last 18 months 12 lenders have changed their Part 2 Handbook instructions relating to 5.4.6. That particular section addresses the question ‘ Does the lender accept search insurance and, if yes, what are the lender’s specific requirements? Even though some lenders dictate a blanket refusal of search insurance many lenders will accept depending…
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Maple syrup with your lender update, sir?
The Lexsure Academy has seen a ten-fold increase in bookings for their in-house ‘power hour’ training in the last in the last year. And there’s a rising trend for mixing things up by scheduling a morning course. Nutritionists often say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but how many of your…
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What is a 'Reasonable' Leasehold Event Fee?
Skipton Building Society is the latest lender to change their Handbook requirements introducing a reasonableness test when it comes to leasehold event fees. The new instruction at section 5.14.9 reads ‘….event fees must remain at a reasonable level at all times during the lease term’ This begs a couple of questions: “What is an ‘event…
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Are you [in-] house trained?
Part I: Pros and cons from the pros When sourcing conveyancing training, the traditional training option used to be external courses. More recently, e-learning (such as webinars) has become popular, but what about training’s rising star: in-house training? The Lexsure Academy is seeing increasing numbers of law firms considering in-house training courses but is this…
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NatWest Reminds Conveyancing Clients To Check Bank Details Following £600,000 Fraud
The latest conveyancing scam reported in the Telegraph this weekend has seen a victim feeling “utterly alone” following the theft of almost £600,000. The victim, whose mortgage had yet to come through, said he felt under immense pressure to make the transfer. He borrowed from his company and made a bank transfer of £593,055.20 to…
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Searching for the Right Paragraphs for your Report on Title
More than 400 lawyers used Lexsure’s Report on Title paragraph database last month seeking assistance in drafting this crucial document in the conveyancing process. Firms struggle to find the time to create a firm-wide index of newly created paragraphs to be made available for future use. Lawyers readily admit to me that notwithstanding the constant…
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Top 5 Conveyancing Webinars in 2017
So what were the hot conveyancing topics in 2017? Fraud, Leasehold Changes, Lender Compliance and The fourth Anti Money Laundering Directive were all front of mind at various points of the year. The Lexsure Academy hosted on 26 webinars in 2017, many of which were sponsored by Searches UK, covering a range of topics. The…
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Handbook Changes – Top Lenders Start 2018 with Updates
It has been a busy start to 2018 when it comes to lenders changing their Handbook instructions. Three weeks into to the new year eleven lenders have updated their instructions via Part 2 of the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook for conveyancers. Twenty six sections have been changed. Examples of top lenders who have made…