The future is now!
Electronic Conveyancing (eConveyancing) was introduced last year in New South Wales as part of the NSW government’s commitment to participate in the development of a national electronic conveyancing system. Until last year, all conveyancing transactions were “paper” transactions with printed Title Deeds, Transfers and mortgage documents. Generally, a settlement of a sale or purchase or a mortgage or discharge of mortgage was effected by the parties attending a settlement room, generally in the Sydney CBD for Sydney Metropolitan transactions, where the attendees gathered around and handed over Directions to Pay, Title Deeds, Transfers, cheques and the like.
Now, the majority of settlements are carried out through PEXA which stands for Property Exchange Australia which is the only Electronic Lodgement Network (ELN) which has been set up nationally to provide for the preparation of electronic dealings and the verification of lodgement acceptability, i.e. electronic conveyancing.
eConveyancing allows lawyers, conveyancers and finance institutes to enter into a secure online workspace where they can interact and transact together online. In simple terms, for sale of land involving a discharge of mortgage by the Vendor, the Purchaser and the Purchaser’s lender, the transaction is effected by each party logging into PEXA and entering into a separate workspace for their part of the transaction. Parties to receive moneys or to pay moneys log in their particulars including the documentation, in electronic format. When all parties have validated their obligation/requirements the transaction is completed in the blink of an eye. Titles are transferred, mortgages are discharged and funds transferred into the nominated accounts instantaneously. There is no more attending settlement rooms, checking Title Deeds and cheques and Directions to Pay and the like.
Tied in with eConveyancing is the disappearance of the paper Title Deed. Where a purchase is funded by a bank which is a PEXA subscriber or represented by a PEXA subscriber and the bank (Authorised Deposit-taking Institution) (ADI) holds a first registered mortgage on the title, then the paper Title Deed will be dispensed with and the bank (ADI) will hold an eCT. This is held in electronic format, there being no physical paper Title Deed and the mortgagee is recorded as having Control of the Right to Deal (CoRD). A CoRD holder has the authority to consent to the registration of a subsequent interest in that land. If the mortgagee was, for example, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the top of the eCT would be as shown in the example below:
27/8/2018 11:59 AM EDITION 3 3/3/2017
NO CERTIFICATE OF TITLE HAS ISSUED FOR THE CURRENT EDITION OF THIS FOLIO. CONTROL OF THE RIGHT TO DEAL IS HELD BY COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA.
LAND
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LOT X IN DEPOSITED PLAN 123456
With the world moving faster and faster, and more and more business transactions/activities being done through the internet, it will only be a short time before all conveyancing transactions will have to be done electronically. Last year, there was some media attention involving some conveyancers who failed to observe security protocols and had their accounts hacked and funds withdrawn or redirected. Since these occurrences, PEXA, The Law Society of New South Wales and the Australian Institute of Conveyancers – NSW Division Limited, have all tightened security.
Nadine Betts, our Licensed Conveyancer and Leanne Dobeson, our Conveyancing Assistant, are both PEXA Certified and both are extremely knowledgeable in the implementation of eConveyancing through PEXA.
If you have any queries or concerns please contact Sutherland Shire Conveyancing on 9543 1818. We are only too pleased to help and inform you.
Paul Pritchard
