Latest news with #Muve
Finextra
6 days ago
- Business
- Finextra
Pexa completes UK's first fully digital property purchase
PEXA, the digital property exchange platform, today announces the completion of the UK's first fully digital Purchase transaction. 0 The transaction took place as part of the testing of PEXA's Sale & Purchase proposition ahead of its full launch and wider market roll out later this year. It marks an important milestone in PEXA's mission to streamline the home buying and selling journey. Hinckley & Rugby Building Society was the first UK lender to complete a mortgage using PEXA, with national law firm Muve acting as the conveyancer within the PEXA workspace for both the purchaser and lender. The transaction leveraged PEXA's proprietary payment scheme, PEXA Pay — the seventh net settlement payment scheme to clear through the Bank of England. The technology enabled the settlement of funds from the incoming lender's account to the seller's conveyancers verified account together with successful lodgement of title with HM Land Registry to complete the transaction promptly and securely giving peace of mind that both lender and purchase are protected. This test transaction did not require the purchaser to introduce additional funds, although following PEXA's recent FCA approval as an Authorised Payment Institution, PEXA can now receive funds directly from the consumer acting as a Third Party Managed Account ('TPMA") provider to conveyancers for property transactions. The news builds on the already significant momentum the business has generated with its remortgage proposition, which had already processed over £100m in transactions by the end of January this year. This successful transaction has set the foundation for the market-wide launch of the Sale & Purchase offering later this year. Commenting on the transaction, Joe Pepper, UK CEO of PEXA, said: 'Our mission has always been to help transform the property market for the benefit of consumers, lenders and conveyancers. Today's completion of the UK's first digital purchase transaction is a landmark achievement in this journey. By leveraging our platform and PEXA Pay scheme, we have demonstrated how technology can simplify and expedite what has traditionally been a complex and time-consuming process. 'This milestone is a testament to the collaborative spirit of the UK property market, particularly forward-thinking organisations like Hinckley & Rugby Building Society and Muve who were also the first industry players to test PEXA's remortgage proposition. They have been early believers in the power of PEXA, and their commitment to innovation has been instrumental in making this breakthrough possible. 'The successful trial transaction is a precursor to the launch of our Sale & Purchase offering later this year. This is just the beginning, and we will continue to invest in the UK market to deliver better outcomes for all stakeholders, making property transactions faster, simpler and more secure.' Laura Sneddon, Head of Safes and Distribution at Hinckley & Rugby Building Society, added: 'We are always eager to embrace innovation and work with partners who share our vision for a more efficient and modernised property market. PEXA's fully digital Sale & Purchase platform represents a significant step forward in streamlining the mortgage and completion process, and we are proud to have been the first UK lender to complete a transaction using this ground breaking technology. "Our team has worked closely with PEXA to test and implement this platform, and today's successful transaction demonstrates the potential for this technology to transform the property market. We look forward to continuing our partnership with PEXA to deliver enhanced services for our customers and to lead the way in digital innovation within the lending industry.' David Jabbari, Founder and CEO of Muve, commented: 'This achievement underscores the transformative potential of PEXA's platform to improve the conveyancing process. "Muve is committed to driving innovation in the legal sector, and this collaboration aligns perfectly with our mission to deliver cutting-edge solutions for our clients. We are proud to have played a key role in this historic transaction and look forward to working with PEXA to bring the benefits of digital conveyancing to more consumers across the UK.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Solicitor struck off for doing three jobs at once while working from home
A property lawyer who was caught working three jobs at the same time from home has been struck off and ordered to pay almost £9,000. Belinda Sarkodie misled her employer by claiming she was only working for them, while also working remotely at two other law firms, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal ruled. The tribunal said Ms Sarkodie capitalised on an 'extremely busy period for the conveyancing industry' during the Covid pandemic by taking on multiple jobs for her own financial gain without her employer's permission. 'She misled two firms where she worked as a locum, by submitting timesheets and claiming payment for the same hours on the same dates from both firms, while she was also employed to work full-time by a third law firm,' the tribunal ruled. The ploy came undone after clients complained about Ms Sarkodie's work and employers raised concerns that she was 'not readily contactable whilst working remotely'. In her defence, Ms Sarkodie told the tribunal she worked up to 100 hours a week while at home during the pandemic and claimed she was able to complete the tasks required under all three of her jobs by switching between them throughout her working day. The lawyer told the tribunal that she had 'worked hard in each of her roles and gone over and above the requirements', claiming she had an 'innate work ethic'. Ms Sarkodie also argued her timesheets reflected 'the total hours worked overall' while switching between tasks, 'as opposed to an accurate record of the time spent on a particular working day for each of the firms that she was contracted to work for.' However, the tribunal rejected Ms Sarkodie's explanations and instead ruled she acted dishonestly by filling out the timesheets incorrectly. Ms Sarkodie also tried to argued that her failure to abide by the terms of her contract had been 'an inadvertent error', claiming she was rushed into starting a job by a recruiter and didn't realise she couldn't take on other roles as the stress meant she failed to read the contract properly. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal said Ms Sarkodie was given a week to read over her contract and said: 'The Respondent's assertion that her breach of contract was inadvertent lacked credibility.' Ms Sarkodie has now been permanently banned from working as a solicitor and told to pay £8,891.50 in costs to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, which ruled she had acted dishonestly and undermined trust in the profession by misleading her employer. The property lawyer first qualified as a solicitor in 2020 before starting a job at London law firm Muve in May 2021. She later starting working two extra locum jobs in June that year, before quitting both jobs the following month. Ms Sarkodie was subsequently fired from her full-time position at Muve in September, at the end of her three month probationary period as a result of 'poor performance' at the conveyancing law firm based in Richmond, south-west London. The tribunal said that given she acted dishonestly the 'only appropriate and proportionate sanction' was for Ms Sarkodie to be struck off from the the Solicitors Register. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Solicitor struck off for doing three jobs at once while working from home
A property lawyer who was caught working three jobs at the same time from home has been struck off and ordered to pay almost £9,000. Belinda Sarkodie misled her employer by claiming she was only working for them, while also working remotely at two other law firms, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal ruled. The tribunal said Ms Sarkodie capitalised on an 'extremely busy period for the conveyancing industry' during the Covid pandemic by taking on multiple jobs for her own financial gain without her employer's permission. 'She misled two firms where she worked as a locum, by submitting timesheets and claiming payment for the same hours on the same dates from both firms, while she was also employed to work full-time by a third law firm,' the tribunal ruled. The ploy came undone after clients complained about Ms Sarkodie's work and employers raised concerns that she was 'not readily contactable whilst working remotely'. In her defence, Ms Sarkodie told the tribunal she worked up to 100 hours a week while at home during the pandemic and claimed she was able to complete the tasks required under all three of her jobs by switching between them throughout her working day. The lawyer told the tribunal that she had 'worked hard in each of her roles and gone over and above the requirements', claiming she had an 'innate work ethic'. Ms Sarkodie also argued her timesheets reflected 'the total hours worked overall' while switching between tasks, 'as opposed to an accurate record of the time spent on a particular working day for each of the firms that she was contracted to work for.' However, the tribunal rejected Ms Sarkodie's explanations and instead ruled she acted dishonestly by filling out the timesheets incorrectly. Ms Sarkodie also tried to argued that her failure to abide by the terms of her contract had been 'an inadvertent error', claiming she was rushed into starting a job by a recruiter and didn't realise she couldn't take on other roles as the stress meant she failed to read the contract properly. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal said Ms Sarkodie was given a week to read over her contract and said: 'The Respondent's assertion that her breach of contract was inadvertent lacked credibility.' Ms Sarkodie has now been permanently banned from working as a solicitor and told to pay £8,891.50 in costs to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, which ruled she had acted dishonestly and undermined trust in the profession by misleading her employer. The property lawyer first qualified as a solicitor in 2020 before starting a job at London law firm Muve in May 2021. She later starting working two extra locum jobs in June that year, before quitting both jobs the following month. Ms Sarkodie was subsequently fired from her full-time position at Muve in September, at the end of her three month probationary period as a result of 'poor performance' at the conveyancing law firm based in Richmond, south-west London. The tribunal said that given she acted dishonestly the 'only appropriate and proportionate sanction' was for Ms Sarkodie to be struck off from the the Solicitors Register. Sign in to access your portfolio
