Electronic Conveyancing – it is on its way

Electronic conveyancing has been touted as the ‘next big thing’ in property law for many, many years.  Unfortunately, it has never become a reality….until now.

It appears that the myth of electronic conveyancing will become a reality come 2015.  State governments and the four major banks are now ‘on board’ and are shareholders in the PEXA online conveyancing network. 

It is envisaged that property transactions will be able to take place in an online environment with parties no longer required to prepare paper documents such as transfers of land and solicitors and conveyancers no longer having to attend settlements in person to exchange documents, certificates of title and bank cheques.

It is anticipated that costs savings will follow from the changeover to electronic conveyancing but it remains to be seen how widely it will be adopted by legal practices and conveyancing practices around Australia.  All parties to a transaction (seller, buyer and the relevant banks) would need to be subscribers to the electronic system in order for a conveyance to be carried out electronically.

It is, however, still a case of “watch this space”.