Law Society begins talking to conveyancers about controversial TA6 form
Worries over changes prompted by material information guidance included within the latest TA6 form nearly led to a member revolt earlier this year.
The Law Society has begun consulting with member conveyancers over its controversial updated TA6 form which, some unhappy members have said, includes changes to reflect recent Trading Standards material information guidance that exposes them to legal liability.
This worry is prompted by sellers being prompted by estate agents to fill in their TA6 form prior to property marketing beginning and, therefore, asking their solicitor for help to do this, a process that has traditionally happened much later in the sales process. If information or advice supplied by a solicitor is later found to be inaccurate, many conveyancers are worried that they could be found liable.
The conveyancer members of The Law Society had at one point earlier this summer threatened to pass a vote of no confidence in its two main seniors – Chief Executive Ian Jeffery and President Nick Emmerson – unless action was taken.
The conveyancer members of The Law Society had … threatened to pass a vote of no confidence in its two main seniors.”
Making the updated TA6 confirm compulsory was duly delayed until January next year despite having been introduced in March this year.
Also, the Law Society revealed plans for a consultation on the updated TA6 and the August 16th deadline for involvement in this has now closed.
The Law Society says it is working with an independent company to carry out objective research to represent the views and needs of its “large and diverse set of conveyancing members”. 2CV Ltd will independently carry out direct member engagement exercises and a survey and analyse the feedback.
Conveyancing
“We want to understand users’ experience and views of the TA6 form and its part in the wider conveyancing landscape, and to identify improvements to the form”, says Law Society chief executive Ian Jeffery.
He says 2CV will be looking specifically at: understanding conveyancers’ engagement and views on external opportunities and threats impacting the market plus asking about users’ experiences and views of the TA6 form (4th edition and 5th edition) and its “part in the wider conveyancing landscape!. Finally, he wants to identify improvements to the TA6 form.
