Ask the Expert

In this month's edition, Ian is joined by Julie Davis, Head of Residential Property, and Lynn Wilkinson, Director – Solicitor, LCF Residential.

In our Ask the Expert section, Ian Quayle, Managing Editor of Property Law UK, interviews seasoned legal professionals, and legal industry suppliers. He poses a series of questions regarding the current landscape of residential conveyancing or commercial property transactions, encouraging them to impart their knowledge and expertise to the readers of Property Law UK magazine.

Ian Quayle (IQ): Thank you, Julie and Lynn, for taking the time to answer questions for Property Law UK. Your contribution is greatly appreciated.

My first question is what brought you to residential conveyancing?

Lynn Wilkinson (LW): I fell into it really, starting in a relatively small high street practice where we tended to do a bit of everything. After spending time in other disciplines, I enjoyed the pace and client contact in conveyancing. 

Julie Davis (JD): Pretty similar to Lynn. I worked part-time in a Branch office of a high street law firm and thought, I can do this, and I began to study CILEX part time juggling this with work and my two small children. I ended up in conveyancing by default as that was the main discipline of the Branch office. I loved the interaction with people and the pace. Then your client would walk in off the street to see you daily and the work was much more personal, and you definitely knew everything about your client’s personal life and their dog! 

(IQ): Do you still enjoy your work?

(LW): Yes, but the role is much more challenging than it was when I started my career. I love the legal and client aspect of the work but not so much the constant “just chasing phone calls and emails” we receive from non-legal 3rd parties who believe they are being helpful but in essence they can often hinder the process.

(JD): Most days. I get great pleasure from mentoring and developing my team and seeing how they progress and develop.

Communication is key to keeping your client happy and everyone else in the chain updated. The day-to-day role is swamped in regulation and a policy for everything which means you have less time to do the actual conveyancing and spend with your client. It is a juggling act.

There is nothing better than making the call to your client to tell them their money is on the way, or they can pick up the keys to their new property.

(IQ) When you are onboarding a new client, can you share examples of situations where alarm bells might ring and when you would decline to act?

(LW): It has generally been around source of wealth, evidence of funding, where the client is living, high-risk countries, the type of funding e.g. crypto currency. 

Where clients’ funds are held, or gifts are coming from high-risk countries such as China.

I once had a 25-year-old client who was purchasing a £250,000 property in cash they had brought over from Russia in a suitcase and deposited it through the hole in the wall at the bank!

(JD): We assess each client individually and adopt a risk-based approach to mitigate the inherent risks posed by the potential misuse of the firm and its services for money laundering. No two clients are the same and we now keep a record of “potential clients that we decline to act for” which is good practice and keep the team alert to understanding scams and red flags.

Unusual settlement requests: Payment by way of third-party cheque or money transfer where there is a variation between the account holder, the signatory and a prospective investor should give rise to additional enquiries.

Unusual instructions: We encounter clients who have no connection to the firm, nor have they been recommended to us, and who reside at distant addresses where the same service is available nearer to their home base; we are also mindful of clients whose requirements could be more easily serviced elsewhere.

Insisting on sending money at the start of the transaction: Except for monies on account of costs we never accept any monies until we have satisfied our AML & Proof of funds check and not until we are ready to exchange contracts.

The secretive client: The client that tells you they can only be contacted by email and are not available to speak and who do not want to meet you in person. This even applies to existing clients.

(IQ): If there was one thing you could suggest making the residential conveyancing process smoother and more efficient, what would it be?

(LW): For clients to instruct you as soon as they decide to move so that all the form filling, onboarding, and due diligence can be completed well in advance of a transaction starting.

(JD): Simplify the (raising) enquires process.

(IQ): If you were taking on a new trainee or member of your support staff what would be your three most important pieces of advice when acting for a buyer in a residential transaction?

(LW):

1) Know your client. Know as much about them as you possibly can.

2) Be vigilant of everything about the buyer, age, job, location, attitude, reason for the transaction. You can never ask too many questions.

3) Obtain as much information as you can regarding source of wealth and evidence of funding. Don’t be afraid to dig deeper and dig as deep as you can.

(JD):

1) Don’t presume. Listen and observe, stay alert too and question what you are being told.

2) Keep your client updated.

3) Pick up the phone, don’t be a keyboard warrior.

(IQ): How do you deal with pre-exchange buyer client inspection? 

(LW): We send a Report on Contract to the client advising them to carry out a pre-exchange inspection of the property.

(JD): We advise the client in the Contract report that it is in their interest to physically arrange to check the property prior to exchange of contract.

(IQ): Where do you stand on reporting on title? Do you prepare interim reports on title or a full and complete report on title when the due diligence process is completed? 

(LW & JD): We don’t do any reporting until the due diligence process has been completed and then we send a full and complete report on title.

We do however separate reports on Contract, Mortgage & Searches but again, nothing goes out until due diligence has passed and is reported on our case management system.