A collective which says it aims to reduce the number of unnecessary enquiries being raised and streamline lender requirements has published details of its campaigns for conveyancers.
The Conveyancing Improvement Collective (CIC) was soft launched at the Bold Legal Group (BLG) conference in June by BLG CEO Rob Hailstone. At the time Hailstone said the group would tackle the issues facing conveyancing one at a time and “from the inside out” in an effort to create a better conveyancing experience. While the initial collective now has seven professionals in place, Hailstone said his ambitions were it would grow into a series of “satellite collectives” that will operate within their own localities, working on solutions and feeding back centrally so “problems, ideas and solutions” can be raised with the relevant powers, including lenders, UK finance, regulators, insurers, brokers, agents and surveyors. The CIC already has the support of over 100 conveyancers throughout England and Wales added Hailstone, who will formally launch the collective in in September, with individuals and firms who wish to support encouraged to contact info@improveconveyancing.org or make contact via the Conveyancing Improvement Collective website.
The first of the publications relates to the objective of reducing the number of unnecessary enquiries being raised. The CIC want law firms to distribute the Guidance for Raising Appropriate Conveyancing Enquiries, (GRACE); a guidance document designed to act as a resource in determining whether or not an enquiry is appropriate; raising awareness of the issues and establishing best practice. Examples include enquiries relating to identity, charges and property condition. The guidance not only uses real life enquiries raised by conveyancers, but identifies the relevant regulation that may already make a requirement of the enquiry, or suggests where the information could be located for retrieval explained Hailstone. GRACE was recently updated to account for the changes in the sixth edition TA6 Property Information Form.
The second campaign calls on lenders and conveyancers to “seriously consider whether or not Mortgagee Protection Clauses are really required which can seriously slow down and increase the chance or a transaction falling through.” A document shared by Hailstone entitled “Can we get some agreement over Mortgagee Protection Clauses (MPC)?” outlines why many conveyancers believe an MPC may not be required. Again the CIC is encouraging firms to share the document with one another.
In recruiting further interest int he CIC Hailstone said the group was made up of “proactive, forward-thinking conveyancers who embrace change (to the home buying and selling process) if it benefits the public and does not compromise the legal process.” He said the group welcomed support from individuals willing to collaborate constructively, respect evidence-based discussion and accept differing opinions.
