PEXA should take priority of paper transactions, as PEXA is the future of property settlements. However, a number of practitioners are declining PEXA invitations on the basis that a paper transaction has already commenced.
Obviously, any conveyancing transaction is going to begin on paper before it becomes a PEXA matter, and for some time yet there will be a need to maintain a backup position (i.e. having paper documents completed and on hand) in case a PEXA settlement is legitimately declined.
It seems to me that there are two reasons why PEXA settlements are being declined in favour of paper:
1. Some practitioners don't want to change, and prefer to cling to the old ways; and
2. The PEXA system lists one of its standard reasons for declining as "Transaction has already commenced on paper" (see the image below)
PEXA and other practitioners are working on reason 1. This is merely a matter of education and progress. However, reason 2. is a problem that needs to be addressed in the PEXA system.
My suggestion is that the option "Transaction has already commenced on paper" should be removed. It is misleading in that it suggests by its presence that once a paper transaction has commenced (and remember, the ALL start as paper transactions) and PEXA settlement is no longer an option. It is also a problem in that it provides a seemingly legitimate reason for declining in circumstances where the declinal is no more than a refusal to co-operate.
Please PEXA, remove this option from the system and inform subscribers that the commencing of a paper transaction does not prevent or displace the use of PEXA.
