Notices

Update from Lloyds Banking Group - Stamp Duty Holiday Removal – 31st March 2021

As the end of the Stamp Duty holiday closes on the 31st march we are anticipating large volumes of business, in order that we ensure all completion requests are met it’s imperative that all firms to adhere to the following; All certificates of title must be received by COB Wednesday 24th March to guarantee completion for March month end. • 5 Days’ Notice is required for all completion requests, requests submitted inside this 5 day period will be processed on a best endeavours basis • Do not submit a request for funds if you have outstanding matters that still require attention, issues need resolved prior to COT submission. • Requests for Completion (CoTs) should be submitted via Lender Exchange. We will be monitoring CoT’s received and any requests received on paper/fax that should have come through Lender Exchange will be rejected. • For cases issued via Lender Exchange, CoT’s should not be submitted by e-mail unless you have been formally requested to do so. Please check Lender Exchange for completion status rather than calling us. • During busy periods we see an increase in volumes of returned mortgage advance payments. Please be aware that we require a minimum of 48 hours for funds to be re-released once returned, please consider if the initial completion dates are viable before submitting your COT. • Solicitors should carefully check the lender handbook for what account to return funds to, we are seeing an increased number of scenarios where they are sending funds to the wrong place (e.g. sending to old A/ account which is now closed, sending 60/ funds back to the 2002 account details), please ensure these are returned to the correct account to avoid delays. • All offers are now being issued via lender Exchange, you should utilise the system to access the offer, please do not call us requesting an e-mail copy, this will not be provided. • Please ensure any conveyancer queries are with us as early as possible, Queries will be worked within 48 hours of receipt. Please prioritise your queries based on completion dates. Please give some thought to your existing volumes and consider if there is anything that can be done bring forward any steps in the process to get completions set as early as possible for the March, and a reminder of our contact points for urgent cases with imminent completions. Solicitors Line – 0345 8500 306 Option 4 : For urgent conveyancing queries with imminent completion. Completions Line – 0345 8500 306 Option 3 : Check LX in first instance however can be used for urgent queries with imminent completion.

Updated on 22 February 2021 16:08

Update from Nationwide

We are anticipating peak business volumes in relation to the stamp duty holiday period and we will be enforcing the following; • The Society requires at least five working days' notice of the completion/settlement date to enable payment via BACS transfer. Failure to provide the given notice will result in the funds being sent by CHAPS with a £20 CHAPS transfer fee applied. • Where a CHAPS transfer is specifically requested, 48 hours notice is required to guarantee payment on time. • Do not submit a request for funds if you knowingly have outstanding matters for consideration. Failure to adhere to this point will result in the COT/Request for funds being rejected. • Do not submit further queries post request for funds. Failure to adhere to this point will result in the COT/Request for funds being rejected. • Please be aware that we may need to refer your query onto a third party which could incur a delay of up to 10 working days • A new COT will be required once the outstanding matters have been concluded. Repeated COT submission whilst we have outstanding matters will be rejected. • If there is a change to the completion date please adhere to our instructions as per our UK Finance Mortgage Lenders Handbook by contacting us immediately after you are aware of the delay. • As per our UK Finance Mortgage Lenders Handbook: Which documents must I send after completion? Do not send us letters post completion to advise of completion or copies of the title documents unless we have specifically requested these • We have noted a considerable increase in volumes of returned mortgage advance payments, including multiple returns and some in excess of the 3 days permitted. We appreciate this may be due to Covid, however to ensure this doesn’t impede our ability to issue funds please consider that the dates are realistic when requesting funds Your failure to adhere to these points could result in funds not being available as requested. A further reminder of our expectations in line with Section 2.3 of the CML Lenders Handbook for the submission of Post Offer queries: 2.3 If you need to report a matter to us, you must do so as soon as you become aware of it so as to avoid any delay. If you do not believe that a matter is adequately provided for in the Handbook, you should * identify the relevant Handbook provision and the extent to which the issue is not covered by it. * provide a concise summary of the legal risks. * provide your recommendation on how we should protect our interest After reporting a matter you should not complete the mortgage until you have received our further written instructions. We recommend that you report such matters before exchange of contract because we may have to withdraw or change the mortgage offer. We would also like to remind you of the email address that you should be using to submit your Post Offer Queries - postofferqueries@nationwide.co.uk It is important that you remove your email signature and associated images from the email and to include the M reference number in the message subject - This is not the same as the account number and can be found in the bottom left of each page of the mortgage offer. Please see below for a full list of ‘Rules and Guidelines’ that we would ask you to follow. Reminder of all the Rules and Guidelines • M Reference to be included in the message subject. This is not the same as the account number and can be found in the bottom left of each page of the mortgage offer. • One case per email - Multiple queries can be asked but these (and any attachments) must all relate to the same case. • Attachments can be added, these must: • Be under 9mb in size • Format types – pdf, jpeg, tiff • Multiple attachments for the same case are allowed, but we would ask that you optimise these so that you send the minimum required. • Remove email signatures and any unnecessary images from emails • Certificate of Titles are NOT to be sent to this mailbox – Please continue to use existing methods i.e. Lender Exchange or fax/email were specified. Should you submit a Post Offer Query that does not adhere to these rules, this could result in the query being returned to sender and/or delays to the applications progress.

Updated on 22 February 2021 16:19

Update from Landbay

We are working closely with our professional business partners to ensure that our high standard of service is maintained, as the end of the Stamp Duty holiday closes on the 31st of March. In order for us to ensure cases that need to complete meet the deadline, we will need Certificates of Title to be received and all outstanding conditions met in full by the 15th of March 2021. In terms of our instruction letter and our legal instructions: Please note that Landbay will only accept a Certificate of Title (COT) after you have confirmed that all conditions (further and special) have been satisfied and you have provided full details of buildings insurance. The completion date can only be agreed when a COT with ALL items satisfied has been submitted. Any COT submitted with outstanding items will be rejected and this will cause delays to your client(s). Service Levels from the Completions area are monitored and may change from time to time. These will be detailed within any emails you receive. However, in general terms we would draw your attention to: Landbay normally requires: 5 working days’ notice of completion. COT’s should be received before a 12:00 cut off. COT’s received after 12.00 will be worked the next business day (in this case completion will be 6 working days from the date that the COT was received). Please note that we action emails in a date/time of receipt order to ensure emails are replied to in a just manner.

Updated on 10 February 2021 09:15