THE 21ST CENTURY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED IN QUEENSLAND | E-CONVEYANCING MANDATE COMMENCING 20 FEBRUARY 2023
At MAP Lawyers we are very excited to see that Queensland is set to join New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia in making it compulsory to settle a conveyance or property transaction electronically through an Electronic Lodgement Network Operator (ELNO) such as PEXA or Sympli.
E-conveyancing is not new to us at MAP Lawyers and there are a number of benefits and efficiencies gained through e-conveyancing including:
- Immediate confirmation of lodgement and notification once the transaction is complete
- Settlement is in a secure environment and payment of all fees and disbursements can be made in one go
- Checks and verifications built into the e-conveyancing system reduce the number of requisitions
- Funds are cleared much quicker than waiting for bank cheques to clear
- The cost is cheaper than having a physical settlement and there are no bank cheque fees
- Settlements are more likely to occur on-time as all parties to a transaction have a greater visibility and can communicate;
- Multiple settlements can occur at the same time.
The following documents must be lodged through an ELNO:
- Transfers
- Mortgages and releases of mortgage
- Caveats and requests to withdraw caveats
- Priority Notices including extensions or withdrawals of priority notices; and
- Applications to be registered as a personal representative for a registered owner who has passed away.
The e-conveyancing mandate does not apply to leasehold interests or water allocations and there are a number of exemptions to the mandate as follows:
- The ELNO does not have the functionality to prepare, lodge or deposit the required instrument or cannot be used on the day (and for the whole day) for reasons beyond an ELNO subscriber’s control;
- The instrument cannot be accepted or processed by the system used in the land registry because the system does not have the functionality to accept or process instruments or other documents lodged or deposited using an ELNO;
- Where the instrument is required to be prepared, lodged or deposited with another instrument or document which is not an Electronic Conveyancing Document (eg. a transfer lodged with a survey plan or lease);
- One or more of the parties are self-represented (eg. a seller chooses not to engage a solicitor or conveyance and they self-represent themselves) – note this only applies for individuals; and
- Where an instrument or document has been executed by at least one party prior to 20 February 2023.
If exempted, the paper documents must be lodged with the Titles Office and an Exemption Request Form will be required to be lodged.
