The current paper based system involved in land transactions is being phased out and an electronic conveyancing method known as E-Conveyancing is taking its place nationwide.
Osborn Law says that the new system has been developed over the last 10 years to fulfil a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agenda item to deliver a national electronic conveyancing solution to the Australian property industry.
It will allow property lawyers, conveyancers, land registries and financial institutions to transact property matters online.
Property Exchange Australia (PEXA), an organisation that is supported by the NSW Government, was formed to fulfil this objective. E-Conveyancing was initially released for testing to a few of the major financial institutions in October 2013 by providing a mechanism to lodge Mortgages and Discharges through the PEXA platform. This resulted in a number of adaptions to the system prior to E-Conveyancing being phased in across the country at different stages.
Osborn Law Property Lawyer, Cathy Dobinson, explained that earlier this year PEXA established launch sites with practitioners in the areas of Wollongong and parts of Sydney and that this system is just around the corner for all land transactions in NSW.
“There are a number of benefits to the process of conveyancing by saving time and money as the inefficiencies of the current paper-based conveyancing system will be removed and the process of a settlement transaction will be improved,” Cathy said.
“Provided we verify your identity, our solicitors can be authorised, with your consent, through PEXA to sign on your behalf all documents in a property transaction, eliminating the need to post out documents for you to sign and send back or ask you to attend at our office to sign. We will also no longer need to charge fees to arrange for an Agent to attend settlement or charge you bank cheque fees.”
The other benefits Cathy stated that were involved with the new system include:
- There will be less time spent on the phone, waiting on faxes or a payout figure from a bank.
- There will be no need for time spent travelling to settlement or attending at a bank to collect settlement cheques.
- All parties to a sale or purchase can look online and see clearly all documents in a transaction and their status meaning there is greater transparency to enable us to keep you fully informed.
- There is no need to book a venue and attend as the transaction will be settled on-line and there will be no documents to hand over. The paper Title Deed will be phased out in place of an E-Certificate of Title.
“This is an exciting time for the property industry as we move to a future of paper free transactions and one that will enable us to work with our clients even more efficiently than allowed under the current system,” Cathy concluded.
