A Dundee solicitor has been censured for failing to comply with mortgage regulations.
Scott Campbell, 42, of the Chamber Practice in Crichton Street, failed to ensure important information was passed to mortgage lenders while carrying out conveyancing work.
The Scottish Solicitors’ discipline tribunal described his conduct as “reckless” and said his complete failure to supervise his staff had led to a series of extremely significant matters not being reported to his clients.
Nine transactions took place between July and October 2009, each involved back-to-back sales, where a property is bought and then sold on again within a short period of time, and substantial increases in the price paid on the second purchase.
These facts should have been reported, according to Council of Mortgage Lenders guidelines.
However, the work had been carried out by a paralegal at the firm and the information was not passed on.
In one case Mr Campbell failed to obtain documentation identifying a third party providing a deposit for a purchase, which is a breach of money laundering regulations.
The tribunal stressed Mr Campbell’s conduct “did not suggest any degree of criminality or wilfulness” on his part.
The tribunal concluded that his actions had been at the “lower end of the scale of professional misconduct” and a censure would be an appropriate penalty.
No restrictions were placed on his practising certificate.
Mr Campbell said: “It is not unusual for entire conveyancing files to be handled by conveyancing paralegals rather than the partner in the firm.
“In these cases the transactions were dealt with by an experienced paralegal.
“It was accepted by the tribunal that I had absolutely no involvement in these transactions and was not aware that these rules were broken.”