Announcements | Outages, Service Charter updates etc

Property buyers often choose to refinance an existing mortgage when they purchase a new property, taking advantage of prevailing interest rates and the simplicity of a single mortgage.  This can be confusing for practitioners transacting the transfer, when they note an additional land title and associated funds appearing in the workspace – especially if they have not been told this is happening. 

We understand that it would be easier from the purchaser’s representative point of view to insist on a separate workspace for the additional property mortgage, and link to the transfer.   However, Banks are inclined to hold a single mortgage over both securities.  While the additional security in the workspace can be a confusing experience for practitioners, the buyer benefits from:

• A single mortgage
• Less fees through one set of
  • Bank fees
  • Land Registry Lodgement fees
  • PEXA transaction fees

The best way for everyone to get on the same page is for all parties in the transaction to communicate the scenario as soon as possible and certainly at least 5 days out from settlement.  A workspace conversation from the Bank to relevant parties during the early workspace preparation stages is best.

As always, please reach out to your PEXA contact, respond here or contact PEXA Support for assistance.

Parties transacting South Australian properties should note a change in process when inviting First Mortgage Services (FMS) to transact.

Guidance on using the developer invoicing feature in PEXA Projects, enabling PEXA Projects Subscribers to have invoices issued to developer clients named in the Supplier Details section 

Hi Community,

Please note the below dates on which financial settlement and lodgement are unavailable this holiday period.

All states

• Monday 27 December 2021 (public holiday in lieu of Christmas falling on a Saturday)
• Tuesday 28 December 2021 (public holiday in lieu of Boxing Day falling on a Sunday)
• Monday 3 January 2022 (public holiday in lieu of New Year’s Day falling on a Saturday)

Please also note the below dates on which financial settlement is available but lodgement is unavailable.

Queensland only

• Wednesday 29 December 2021
• Thursday 30 December 2021
• Friday 31 December 2021

A state-by-state list of Land Registry notices is available below.

New South Wales

The NSW LRS building at 175 Liverpool Street, Sydney, will be closed between Christmas and New Year. On Wednesday 29 December, Thursday 30 December and Friday 31 December the NSW LRS Lodgment Office will be operating, however will be closed to walk-in customers.
 
Appointment bookings must be made on these dates if there are no online lodgment or enquiry methods available to you. Bookings for these urgent matters can be made by emailing losupport@nswlrs.com.au or calling our Contact Centre on 8776 3575.
 
Our telephone Contact Centre will remain open during the Christmas period, however some services will be affected by reduced staff levels throughout the holiday period.
 

ACT

The ACT Land Titles Office will be closed from Friday 24 December 2021 at 4pm and will reopen on Tuesday 4 January 2022 at 9am AEDT. During the closure period, documents cannot be lodged.

Victoria

Land Use Victoria message: Registration and call centre services will be unavailable during the end of year holiday period, from 4.00 pm on Friday 24 December 2021, reopening at 8.30 am on Tuesday 4 January 2022. Online services including electronic lodgement will continue to be available during this period.

Queensland

Titles Queensland message: Department of Resources Business Centres will close during the 2021/2022 Christmas and New Year holiday period (Monday 27 December 2021 - Monday 3 January 2022 inclusive). During the closure period, documents cannot be lodged.

The Titles Queensland Brisbane office will close at 4pm on Friday 24 December 2021 and reopen at 9am on Tuesday 4 January 2022. Although lodgements cannot be accepted during this closure period, eLodgement users and eConveyancing subscribers will still be able to access the relevant systems to prepare documents intended to be lodged from Tuesday 4 January 2022.

South Australia

TBC

Western Australia

Landgate’s customer service and land titles staff will be available during the Christmas and New Year period, excluding public holidays.

There is no change to customer-facing operating hours (Wednesday, 29 December to Friday, 31 December).

In person | 8.30am – 4.30pm

Landgate’s counter opening hours at both Midland and Perth will remain open 8.30am to 4.30pm. As per normal, documents will not be accepted for lodgment outside these hours. This includes self-lodgment.

By webchat | 8.30am – 4.30pm

Webchat support will continue to operate 8.30am to 4.30pm. Visit our website and click the ‘Chat now’ button to engage a customer service team member.

By phone | 8.30am – 5pm

Phone support operates 8.30am to 5pm. Simply call +61 (0)8 9273 7373 to speak to one of our customer service team.

All other Landgate services will be closed for the Christmas and New Year period (Wednesday, 29 December – Friday, 31 December inclusive), reopening on Tuesday, 4 January 2022.

If you need assistance with your online lodgement or settlement over the Christmas period, PEXA’s Support centre is still available, except for public holidays as noted above. You can contact our friendly support staff between 8:30am – 6:30pm AEDT at support@pexa.com.au or 1300 084 515.

PEXA will be conducting system maintenance on Saturday 27 November from 8:30am to midnight, AEDT.

As a result, Lodgement and Lodgement Verification in Victoria will not be available during this time.

Throughout 2021, PEXA has been undertaking a refresh of our brand’s look and feel. We’re continuing to deliver the same critical services to you – but with a new twist to our website, social media, emails and more.

Our next milestone is to transition our PEXA Exchange login page. Effective Saturday 20 November 2021, you’ll no longer see this:

Instead, you’ll be greeted by this:

Members will benefit from:

• Improvements to accessibility
• Optimisation for mobile devices
• More user-friendly error troubleshooting

There’s no action required from you – once you log in, your experience will remain exactly the same.

And if you’ve previously saved your username and password with us, this will be kept for your convenience.

Daylight savings time has resumed in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.

The following changes will be effective until Sunday 3 April 2022:

• For members in NSW, two additional settlement slots will be made available: 6.00pm and 6.30pm AEDT.
• In Western Australia, settlement rebooking cut-off time will be at 1.00pm AWST.

Please also be mindful of the 4.00pm cut-off time in Queensland, with the jurisdiction not observing daylight savings time.

On Monday 11 October 2021, NSW will move to 100% eConveyancing by retiring paper titles and CoRD holder consents – providing a pathway for all documents to be digitally lodged. There are new conveyancing rules to support the change available here.

The industry is working together to ensure there is a smooth transition to this significant milestone. There are some important things to note to support this change:

• The term “Paper Dealing” will be replaced by “Dealing with Exception” (DwE) in PEXA
• New Lodgement Rules will be announced shortly, detailing waivers to the conveyancing rules here

There will be two settlement pathways for Dealings with Exception:

1. DwE Physical Settlement between parties and responsible subscriber uploads the documents in PEXA; or
2. DwE Digital PEXA Settlement where each party uploads their respective documents in PEXA (as per usual)
   Please ensure that you include in the PEXA invitation, under notes: This is a dealing with exception workspace and follow up in the conversation tool within PEXA.

Important dates

The details

How to transact a Dealing with Exception (DwE)

Financial Institutions have advised that documents required to be lodged as a DwE will require a physical settlement and the Responsible Subscriber (typically the Incoming Mortgagee), will lodge all documents post settlement through a PEXA Workspace.  (Note: where there is no Incoming Mortgagee in a transaction, the responsible subscriber would be the Incoming Proprietor).

Financial Institutions are working towards being able to support a digital settlement and we will communicate this date as soon as we can. Note:  if you are unable to attend a physical settlement, please contact the Incoming Mortgagee as early as possible to discuss alternatives.

Process for a DwE Physical Settlement involving Financial Institutions:

1. Financial Institution initiates contact regarding a settlement
2. Other parties respond as early as possible advising a DwE is required
3. All parties prepare and complete a physical settlement
4. Responsible Subscriber creates the Workspace and a PEXA “Dealing with Exception” document for each instrument in the Workspace. Each paper instrument is uploaded and attached to the corresponding PEXA document
5. Responsible Subscriber submits the Lodgement Case

Please note: 

• Only one scanned paper instrument can be uploaded per PEXA document
• The order of lodgement must be correct, e.g. Discharge – Transfer – Mortgage
• If one DwE is required, all documents in the lodgement case must be created as DwE’s
• Ensure attachment is a pdf with no password or encryption
• DwE transactions without an Incoming Mortgagee can proceed and the Incoming Proprietor will be the Responsible Subscriber
• Participants in a DwE workspace should be advised of a DwE transaction in the invitation notes (eg DwE – discharge deceased from mortgage), and by sending a conversation

In the future, we hope to be able to lodge a hybrid of standard PEXA documents and DwEs.  Work on this is underway with NSW LRS. 

For further information about this important change, please refer to:

• Office of the Registrar General (ORG)
• NSW Land Registry Services (NSWLRS)
• PEXA Help Cards
• Your PEXA partner or Account Executive

Hi Community,

Please note the following lodgement and settlement availability for all states on Monday 4 October 2021, with public holidays in New South Wales (Labour Day), South Australia (Labour Day) and Queensland (Queen’s Birthday): 

Western Australia

• Financial Settlement is available until 1pm AWST
• Lodgement is available

New South Wales

• Financial Settlement is available until 4pm AEDT
• Lodgement is available 

Victoria

• Financial Settlement is available until 4pm AEDT
• Lodgement is available

 South Australia

• Financial Settlement and lodgement are unavailable

 Queensland

• Financial Settlement and lodgement are unavailable

Hi Community,

We’d like to inform you that the PEXA Support Centre operating hours are changing, effective Monday 23 August 2021.

Previous operating hours: Monday-Friday 8:30 am to 8:00 pm AEST (or AEDT, as applicable)
New operating hours: Monday-Friday 8:30 am to 6:30 pm AEST (or AEDT, as applicable)

*excluding national public holidays and weekends.

We’re focused on continuing to provide the best possible support to you and your clients – and this change will help to ensure we’re more available during the times when you need us the most.

As always if you have any questions regarding this change, please reach out to us.

Hi Community,

The PEXA Exchange, PEXA Projects, PEXA Plus, PEXA Planner, PEXA APIs, MyView and Tracker Bespoke Report will be unavailable from Friday 30 July 10:00pm AEST until Saturday 31 July 11:59PM AEST while we complete planned upgrades to our systems.

As always, we're here to support you however we can – please reach out to our friendly Member Support Centre if you require assistance or have any questions about this outage.

Hi Community,

On Monday 2 August 2021, the NSW Bank Holiday will see reduced settlement hours for NSW, VIC, SA and WA. Please note the following changes:

New South Wales

• Financial Settlement is available until 4pm AEST
• Lodgement is available as normal

Victoria

• Financial Settlement is available until 4pm AEST
• Lodgement is available as normal

Western Australia

• Financial Settlement is available until 2pm AWST
• Lodgement is available as normal

South Australia

• Financial Settlement is available until 3.30pm ACST
• Lodgement is available as normal

Queensland

• Lodgement and settlement times remain unchanged

For more information, please visit https://www.pexa.com.au/hours-of-operation.

Kind regards,

Jarrod

Hi Community,

Fees for each of the Land Registries have recently undergone an annual review. The Land Registry fees have been updated and these revised fees will take effect from 1 July 2021.

For further information regarding the revised fees in each jurisdiction, please refer to the relevant Land Registry using the below links:

• VIC Land Registry fees
• QLD Land Registry fees
• SA Land Registry fees
• WA Land Registry fees
• NSW Land Registry fees

The Digital Duties Form has been enhanced to reduce duplication of data when capturing Principle Place of Residence (PPR) details.

Hi Community,

Suncorp has advised us that all of its systems are currently down.

This means that they are unable to respond to conversations on the platform and settlements that include Suncorp cannot proceed as normal until this issue is resolved.

Please note that settlements that include Suncorp will roll every 30 mins until resolved.

We will continue to update you as Suncorp resolves this issue.

Kind regards

Aoife

Hi Community,

The end of daylight savings is approaching (Sunday 4 April 2021), and the RBA has confirmed changes to RITS (Reserve Bank Information & Transfer System) session times.

As a result, the last available settlement timeslot in New South Wales will be 5:30pm AEST (reduced from 6:30pm).

Additionally, for our members in WA, you will now have an extra hour to re-book settlements, with the cut-off time returning to 2pm AWST (from 1pm).

Breakdown of settlement hour changes and impacted states from Sunday 4 April 2021 to Friday 1 October 2021:

Hi Community,

This year's Easter Holidays start on Friday 2 April (Good Friday) and end Monday 5 April (Easter Monday).

From 2-5 April, financial settlement isn’t available across all jurisdictions. However, Lodgement is still available in Victoria and New South Wales.

Kind regards

Hi Community,

PEXA will be conducting system maintenance on Saturday 20 March from 8:30am to 1:00pm AEDT.

As a result, Lodgement Verification in Queensland will not be available during this time.

Kind regards,

Jarrod

Over the coming months, you will notice a few little upgrades to the PEXA look and feel, including our logo. These changes across all your PEXA experiences (website, platform, social media, emails and more) were made to reflect our partnership with you and all that comes with it; collaboration, innovation and positive impact.  

Our look and feel has been elevated to better reflect everything you expect from PEXA; from platform reliability to unwavering support from your PEXA representative and support teams.  

We can’t wait to share these little changes with you.  Reach out to your PEXA representative if you’d like to hear more.

Hi Community,

For our members who use PEXA Projects, please note that there will be a scheduled maintenance outage on 13 January 2021 from 9pm to 11:59pm AEDT.

Therefore, PEXA Projects will not be available during this time.

If you have any questions, let us know below or contact your Account Manager directly.

Kind regards

Aoife

Hi Community,

On Christmas Day (Friday 25 December 2020), Boxing Day (Saturday 26 December 2020) and New Year’s Day (Friday 1 January 2021), financial settlement will not be available in all states. However, lodgement will remain available in Victoria and New South Wales.

A state-by-state breakdown of lodgement and settlement availability on Christmas Day and and New Year’s Day, as well as office availabilities for land registries, is provided below.

Additionally, we’d like to reminder members during this period to verbally confirm bank account details with their clients or use PEXA Key to safely exchange sensitive information.

New South Wales

Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day availability

• Lodgement is available
• Financial settlement is unavailable

Land Registry notice

NSW Land Registry Services (NSW LRS) Lodgement Office will be closed on Tuesday 29 December 2020, Wednesday 30 December and Thursday 31 December 2020.

The NSW LRS offices will also be closed on the public holidays of Friday 25 December 2020, Monday 28 December 2020 and Friday 1 January 2021.

Victoria

Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day availability

• Lodgement is available
• Financial settlement is unavailable

Land Registry notice

Registration and call centre services will be unavailable during the end of year holiday period, from 4.00pm on Thursday 24 December 2020 to 8.30am on Monday 4 January 2021.

Queensland

Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day availability

• Lodgement is unavailable
• Financial settlement is unavailable

Land Registry notice

The Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy (DNMRE) and subsequently, the Queensland Land Registry, has confirmed its holiday closure period as Friday 25 December 2020 to Sunday 3 January 2021, inclusive.

We’re pleased to share with members that settlement will remain available during this period.

It’s important to note however that while settlement will proceed, lodgement and registration will not be confirmed until the Land Registry’s return date of Monday 4 January 2021.

From this point, the Land Registry will begin to work through the backlog of matters accumulated during its shutdown.

South Australia

Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day availability

• Lodgement is unavailable
• Financial settlement is unavailable

Land Registry notice

TBC.

Western Australia

Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day availability

• Lodgement is unavailable
• Financial settlement is unavailable

Land Registry notice

Lodgement will remain available throughout the holiday period, excluding public holidays.

If you need assistance with your online lodgement or settlement over the Christmas period, PEXA’s Support centre is still available, except for public holidays – Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day 2020. You can contact our friendly support staff between 8:30am – 8:00pm AEDT at support@pexa.com.au or 1300 084 515.

A 10 year milestone for industry

This year, thanks to the collaboration, feedback and leadership of our entire industry, PEXA turns 10.

I’d like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to each and every one of you, our members. Your contributions throughout this journey have made the property exchange experience what it is today and continue to shape what it will be in the future.

Together, industry has completed more than six million property transactions on PEXA, valued at $1+ trillion – assisting 20,000 families settle their homes online, weekly. Your feedback and collaboration have resulted in close to 4,000 enhancements to the PEXA Exchange platform since 2015 and the creation of additional value-add services for our industry such as PEXA Key, PEXA Plus, PEXA Projects and more.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, we looked back on some of our members’ highlights and notable moments – and what better place to start than at the beginning.

The first transaction

Pioneering digital settlements for our industry, Carolyn Booth, Smart Choice Conveyancing, and Paul Denny, Paul Denny Conveyancing, completed the first electronic transfer transaction on PEXA in 2014. We caught up with Paul and Carolyn to hear their account of this landmark transaction – kick-starting a digital transformation like no other.

A solution for everyone

Our members are incredibly special. Together, we’ve been able to drive change, innovate, and provide opportunities that weren’t possible 10 years ago. And on this journey, we’ve come across some truly remarkable stories. Meet Howard, now into his 80s, a trailblazing Victorian conveyancer, who adapted to the industry’s digitisation and today settles property online, from his own home.

Flexibility and transformation

Our members are at the heart of everything we do. We are always proud to hear how they’re using PEXA to drive positive change. From time to time, we hear stories that stop us in our tracks – stories that are truly remarkable. We wanted to share with you a personal story from Carol Taylor, a practitioner from the Gold Coast. We are so proud to have Carol as one of our members, and fortunate to be part of her extraordinary journey.

Settle from anywhere

Together, we built a world-first prop-tech solution, that has enabled people to ‘settle from anywhere’. That was truly taken to the next level when PEXA member, Mark Blair, decided he would take his laptop and digital certificate to Mount Everest. Hear from Mark as he shares his settlement experience from the skies.

Reliability during life’s unexpected moments

Buying and selling your property are some of life’s biggest moments. Together, we revolutionised the settlement process, providing clarity, security and peace of mind for industry. We asked Frances McCauley at Suncorp to share a unique story with us – how, through the power of technology, she was able to help a 37-week pregnant mother urgently settle her property, all in one day.

Accelerated transformation to digital settlements

And lastly, we wanted to finish on a story that has particular significance in 2020. In the face of a global pandemic, we were able to provide our members with the tools and support to keep their businesses open – to continue to settle property for Australians. We caught up with South Australia’s Ben McDonald from Fentons Conveyancing to hear their story.

We will be sharing these wonderful stories, along with some key industry milestones on our social media channels to showcase these moments that have inspired us over the past decade. We would love for you to share them with your audience and clients and reflect upon what our collaboration together has meant to you.

Once again, thank you.

Kind regards

Lisa

---

Lisa Dowie
Chief Customer Officer

https://www.facebook.com/Property.Exchange.Australia/
https://www.instagram.com/pexa.ltd/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/pexa/

PEXA is uniquely placed to provide timely insights into property and mortgage trends, drawing on data from initial search to final settlement. 

By combining timely data on property transactions in the jurisdictions PEXA operates with data and statistics from external sources, we’ve produced our first PEXA Property and Mortgage Insights (PMI) report, covering January to September 2020.

This report can be downloaded from our new hub for property settlement insights and content, PEXA Insights (www.pexa.com.au/insights).

Interested in more from PEXA Insights? Our Pre-Settlement Indicator is a weekly report, outlining trends in imminent sales and refinance settlements. Click here to subscribe to receive this in your inbox, every Monday.

Hi Community,

The following documentation has been updated by PEXA:

• Participation Agreement
• PEXA Subscriber Security policy
• PEXA Service Charter
• Standard Operating Environment requirements

Clean and marked up versions of these documents are available below.

Regards,

Jarrod

Hi Community,

Please note the following lodgement and settlement availability for all states on Monday 5 October, with public holidays in New South Wales (Labour Day), South Australia (Labour Day) and Queensland (Queen’s Birthday): 

Western Australia

• Financial Settlement is available until 1pm AWST
• Lodgement is available

New South Wales

• Financial Settlement is available until 4pm AEDT
• Lodgement is available 

Victoria

• Financial Settlement is available until 4pm AEDT
• Lodgement is available

 South Australia

• Financial Settlement and lodgement are unavailable

 Queensland

• Financial Settlement and lodgement are unavailable

Hi Community,

Daylight savings time will resume in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania from Sunday 4 October 2020.

The following changes will be effective from Tuesday 6 October 2020 until Friday 2 April 2021.

For members in NSW, two additional settlement slots will be made available: 6.00pm and 6.30pm AEDT. Settlements after 5.00pm AEDT will not roll and will need to be re-booked for these times.

In Western Australia, settlement rebooking cut-off time will be at 1.00pm AWST.

Please also be mindful of the 4.00pm cut-off time in Queensland, with the jurisdiction not observing daylight savings time.

If you have any questions, please reach out.

Cheers,

Jarrod

Hi Community,

The PEXA Subscriber Security policy has been updated. Attached are clean and marked up versions.

Kind regards,

Jarrod

Hi members,

Please see attached below a notice from the Australian Registrars National Electronic Conveyancing Council (ARNECC). If you have any questions regarding this notice, please contact your local Land Registry in your State or Territory:

VIC

T: 03 9194 0601  E: trs.enquiries@delwp.vic.gov.au

NSW

T: 02 8776 3575  E: eConveyancingNSW@nswlrs.com.au

WA

T: 08 9273 7373  E: paperlessconveyancing@landgate.wa.gov.au

SA

T: 08 8423 5000 (country callers 1800 648 176) E: customersupport@landservices.com.au

QLD

T: 1300 255 750  E: Titlesinfo@dnrme.qld.gov.au

TAS

T: 03 6165 4187  E: Titles.Enquiries@dpipwe.tas.gov.au