The Conveyancing industry has been anticipating – and in many cases excited about – legislation mandating electronic conveyancing, and now it is here!
The Land Title Regulation 2022 has been enacted and made it mandatory for solicitors to use eConveyancing for many property transactions. This mandate comes into effect on 20 February 2023, and from this date, it will not be permitted – with few exemptions – to lodge these documents via old-fashioned paper means.
The mandate brings Queensland into line with Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia, where eConveyancing has been mandatory for some time. In the Australian Capital Territory, it is an option, but not required. In the Northern Territory and Tasmania, eConveyancing is not available at all, and paper settlements are the only option.
What does this mean for you as a client?
At Greenhalgh Pickard, we consider ourselves to be leaders in the industry and implement technology where we can. We have been using eConveyancing through the PEXA system for many years and are well positioned for the change. Where the other side of any conveyancing matter is continuing the use of paper settlements, we have needed to revert to the old ways (paper settlements) – these often lead to added complications, additional person-hours of work, and greater chances of settlement delays. With mandatory eConveyancing, these occurrences should become a thing of the past.
What are the costs to me?
PEXA charges law firms for every transaction that uses the system. At Greenhalgh Pickard, as part of our fixed-free pricing model, the PEXA fee is included in our overall costs agreement. There will be no additional costs to you as our client for the implementation of the mandate.
What are the exemptions?
Some documents cannot be lodged electronically due to highly unique circumstances where the system cannot process the document, and a person must manually check the document: for example, trustees in bankruptcy, or where the party to the transfer has a name which the system cannot process. Some documents cannot be lodged electronically, and require paper lodgement. Additionally, there are exemptions for system or network failures which prevent electronic lodgement. Despite these exemptions, we estimate 99% of standard property sales and purchases will be captured within the mandate.
For more information about exemptions and what the mandate means for your legal circumstances, contact our experienced team today!
Greenhalgh Pickard’s conveyancing and property law team
