About time! Conveyancing trade body gets tough on poor service

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) is bulking up its enforcement powers to be a better regulator of the conveyancing sector.

CLC Chief Executive Sheila Kumar says that although the post-lockdown conveyancing boom did not lead to a growth in compliance failures the CLC was clear that firms should not have taken on more work than they could cope with.

We use the most appropriate of the range of regulatory interventions available to us.”

Kumar (pictured) adds: “At the same time, we are working on ensuring that, when we do have to take regulatory action – and we’re talking about a small number of such actions relative to the number of firms and set in the context of the huge number of transactions CLC lawyers handle – we use the most appropriate of the range of regulatory interventions available to us.”

The first step in most regulatory matters – except where immediate action is required, in response to actual harm having already occurred or there being an immediate threat to clients – is what the CLC calls ‘assisted compliance’, meaning the CLC works with the firm to bring it back into line within a reasonable timeframe.

TIMEFRAME

Kumar says that this timeframe is not infinite and requires a firm commitment by the practices to put things right.

She says: “In the past, there has sometimes been a tendency to go from assisted compliance to full-on enforcement, meaning it could take too long to ensure compliance.

“We are now making more use of the other powers we have, such as warning letters and Enforcement Determination Decisions, to speed up the process where firms are not moving quickly enough.”

CLC chair Dame Janet Paraskeva adds: “We know the business of conveyancing. We know probate. If that’s what people need regulated, then we are best placed to provide it.”