
An amendment to clause 10.2 of the Lender’s Handbook. The amendment inserts an additional sentence (in italics), as follows:
10.2 We shall treat the submission by you of the certificate of title as confirmation that the borrower has chosen to proceed with our mortgage offer and as a request for us to release the mortgage advance to you. Check part 2 to see if the mortgage advance will be paid electronically or by cheque and the minimum number of days notice we require.
The amendment is designed to reflect the introduction of a requirement, as a result of the Mortgage Credit Directive, for mortgage customers to have a ‘reflection period’ of at least seven days before accepting a mortgage offer.
The wording intends to clarify that, in cases where the mortgage lender does not already require a formal acceptance from the borrower, that the current practice of the conduct of the borrower in drawing down the loan, acts as acceptance of the mortgage offer, and creates the contract; this in turn, in cases where the draw-down happens before the end of the reflection period, confirms that the customer has brought the reflection period to an end by their conduct, which Recital 23 expressly allows for.
See all CML amendments here