Too many broken promises ‘could break conveyancing system’

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) is receiving so many complaints about broken promises and undertakings being breached that there is a real risk of the conveyancing system breaking.

CLC’s 2023 Risk Agenda lists the biggest risks faced by regulated conveyancers and ‘breaches of undertakings’ was added this year.

RELIED UPON

An undertaking doesn’t need to be in writing but is basically a promise made by a solicitor that they can be relied upon to do what they say they are going to do.

But the CLC says: “This is of significant concern; the property transfer system will break if conveyancers do not adhere to undertakings.”

The 2023 Risk Agenda warns: “The CLC is escalating its activity on this issue and tracking practices where we are seeing repeated or systemic breaches.”

Conflict of interest issues were also identified. Although CLC-regulated practices are allowed to act for more than one party to a transaction with informed written consent, each party must be represented by different fee-earners operating as though they were members of different entities. And while the fee-earner does not need to be a licensed conveyancer or other authorised person, their direct supervisor does.

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The 2023 Risk Agenda adds: “We have seen examples of unauthorised individuals with inadequate supervision handling such transactions. This is not acceptable.

“If the nature of a practice’s structure means it cannot meet the requirements for acting for both sides in a transaction, then they must not take on the second client.”

Sheila Kumar (main pic), CLC Chief Executive, says: “Conveyancers are at the frontline of the battle against economic crime and as a result the pressures on them are considerable.

“This latest iteration of our Risk Agenda looks to pinpoint the particular problems we are finding in this and other areas of practice and explain how best to resolve them.

“This is core to the CLC’s approach of assisted compliance: working with practices to identify and address risks before they crystalise as harms.”