X-Press Legal Services, the leading independent property search provider has brought together leading industry experts to share their opinions, insights and advice on compliance for law firms.
Why collaboration is key to compliance is a current hot topic.
Property fall throughs are estimated to have cost UK buyers and sellers £270m during Q3 of 2023 with a staggering 269,728 of property sales falling through during the course of the year. There’s no question the system needs revising, and we are closely monitoring the impact the new Full Material Information Guidance from National Trading Standards will have on property transactions.
As 2024 gets into full swing, compliance remains high on the agenda for conveyancers but how is it viewed by the partners you work with on property transactions? Estate agents, brokers, mortgage lenders?
Trusting clients on face value is something we have all been educated not to do and yet many firms happily continue to collaborate on property transactions without questioning their property partners.
Did you know estate agents now account for almost 50% of individual money laundering penalties issued by HMRC? The lack of checks being carried out in the estate agency sector and the resulting fines that are being imposed is something every conveyancer should be mindful of. And, while we are often great at sharing best practice within our firms, why not make 2024 the year that you do so with your property partners too?
In January, the Conveyancing Association (CA) – the leading trade body for the conveyancing industry – announced an update of its Estate Agent Best Practice Guide which included two key recommendations:
- Digital ID: To improve the customer journey, all parties to share digital verification of client ID under the Digital Identity and Attributes Framework;
- Case Tracking Facility: Estate agent access to the conveyancer’s Online Case Tracking System (if available) – with appropriate agreement that this system is kept up to date.
Many of the latest digital case tracking systems such as our own Quotation Management Platform (QMP) are SRA compliant with products regulated by the FCA. These are designed to ensure crucial steps such as ID checks cannot be missed by your property partners. In many ways this robust, customisable system takes the onus off the individual to remember every check that must be completed, rendering it difficult to progress a case without the required information.
Next time an estate agent or broker calls for a transaction update, perhaps take a moment to ask them how they feel about compliance and whether you could be working more collaboratively. Why not make a commitment in 2024 to sharing best practice in compliance and take pride in elevating your property partners to your level of expertise.
If conveyancers are willing to take the lead, we can set new standards for compliance across the property industry; ensuring transparency, reducing costly mistakes, protecting PI premiums and preventing property fall throughs on transactions that should never have begun.
To read more informed articles featured in Compl:ex visit https://xpresslegal.co.uk/complex/
This article was submitted to be published by X-Press Legal Services as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
