eConveyancing Mandate to Commence 20th February 2023
From the 20th of February 2023, Queensland will mandate e-conveyancing.
This has brought a huge sigh of relief for many in the legal profession, especially our conveyancing arm, MCL Conveyancing who to date has had to interact with firms still stuck in the dark age of “paper settlements”. The mandate will make it compulsory for all residential conveyances to be done electronically unless an exemption applies.
Our team settles over 500 properties a year and we got on board early with e-conveyancing because we could see the efficiencies and security it brought not just for ourselves but for our clients too. Money in vendors bank accounts immediately upon settlement (no waiting for bank cheques to clear, no chance of cheques getting lost etc) and buyers registered as owners immediately upon settlement, not in a months time.
The Land Title Regulation 2022 mandates electronic lodgement for fee simple property transactions such as the sale of residential property. Only required instruments can be digitally prepared, signed, settled and lodged using an electronic lodgement provider such as PEXA.
These required instruments include:
- Transfers;
- Mortgages;
- Caveats (new withdrawal);
- Priority notices; and
- Transmission by death.
What about document’s signed before the mandate?
Under the transitional provisions, if a transaction was executed by a party before the mandate, that transaction can still be lodged by paper lodgement.
What does this mean for our clients?
For our clients it will mean nothing because our firm has been using e-conveyancing since its inception we have it down pat, there is nothing for us to learn or implement, so our clients won’t notice anything different in the way we do business and interact with them.
As early adopters of e-conveyancing, we have seen the tremendous benefits including the administrative efficiencies, enhanced security, accuracy of information and lower costs to transact a settlement. All benefits our clients will continue to enjoy.
If you are buying or selling property, contact our conveyancing team on 07 3808 7777 or business@mclaughlinlawyers.com.au.
John McLaughlin
