Penalties for Banks delaying settlement and not taking settlement time seriously

[k1mum]

Bank's are accepting the date and time for settlement and then, with no communication to the relevant party, are not signing off on time.  This causes the solicitor/conveyancer additional work and stress which filters down to their clients - the bank's customers are put at potential physical and financial risk due to the bank's lack of care, diligence and communication.

Today I had a settlement due at 2.30pm, though my client's additional funds were available in their account for over a week the bank did not transfer them for settlement until 3.40pm - an hour and 10 minutes after the due settlement time.  Simultaneously, the vendor's discharging, though they have uploaded documents, accepted time and date for settlement and uploaded the payout, have not at 4.12pm, signed off notwithstanding the Solicitor for the vendor chasing them on several occasions requesting they do so.

This mindset for banks is not going to change unless the banks are held accountable for the delays and as it seems they only care about money, similarly to a purchaser being the cause for a delay of settlement, the banks should be charged an or half hourly rate for each delay caused by them over the agreed time.

Extremely annoyed and frustrated at the lack of care and integrity of our banks

Leah

[Kate_Camilleri]

Hi Leah,

Thanks for you post and I am sorry you and your client have had such a poor settlement experience. I would grateful if  you could direct message me with further details  or alternatively reach out via your PEXA Direct Specialist. 

Thanks, Kate. 

[JulesM]

Five months later and still the banks are not held accountable!!!

Settlement at 2:30pm today, I sent a conversation prior to settlement requesting they sign, they didn't.  Another conversation sent shortly after 2.30pm requesting they sign, they didn't.  A further conversation sent just before 3:00pm requesting they sign, they didn't.  What makes it worse is that they haven't even read the conversations!!!!

I have emailed the client's banker, no help.  My client has contacted CBA, no help.

A call to PEXA, no help except to tell me to call CBA 1300 number, I have now been on hold for over 25 minutes, as the next rolled over time is about to pass.

Banks could manage to get to manual settlements on time (well definitely not 1.5 hours late!), why can't they settle on time when their staff don't even have to get up from their seat?  I absolutely agree that the banks (or their agents) should be penalised for their failure to sign off for settlement, perhaps what our clients have to pay for additional removal costs???

It all falls on deaf ears..... if only I could afford to retire!

[Morri]

Hi @JulesM 

Apologies for the experience you are having.

Sending conversations on settlement day will have very limited impact unfortunately, as it is not like a live chat and we physically cannot resource conversations to have them actioned within a couple of hours.

If you Direct Message me the workspace I will move to escalate things.

Thanks

David Morrissey

Chief Product Owner

Retail Home Lending Operations

[JulesM]

Hi David

I don't know how to do a direct message, and the matter is now settling.

This is not an isolated incident however, Conveyancers/Solicitors in all areas of social media are complaining about the banks failures in signing off on settlements via electronic conveyancing.  This settlement was delayed by 1.5 hours!! That's 1.5 hours of additional time that clients are paying for removalists, not to mention the hour I've spent chasing up, trying to get someone to sign, nor the 25 minutes on top of that that I spent on the phone to CBA resulting in nothing as I didn't even talk to anyone during that time!!!   Should our clients have to pay for the additional time that we spend chasing the banks?  

CBA were in the workspace this morning, why didn't they just sign the Consent then?

It's quite disappointing that you make that comment about sending conversations on the day of settlement, way to pass the buck!!  Quite frankly, I shouldn't have to be sending messages to the bank on the day of settlement requesting them to sign documents/sign settlement!!  They should be ready.  If you don't have the resources perhaps you should invest in more staff! 

[Morri]

I don't disagree with you @JulesM , we should definitely be ready without the need for prompting. Furthermore, conversation should almost never be required on anything.

When it comes to signing the Consent, we are restricted in timing.

In case you were not aware, if the lodgement verification has not been completed then the MOT cannot sign the consent. This was probably the case earlier today and why it wasn't signed. This means we need to loop back and sign later.

Please feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any other issues.

Thanks

david.morrissey@cba.com.au

0418 937 749 

[Kate_Camilleri]

Thanks @JulesM  and @Morri   Also noting that NSW are moving to cancel all paper CT's and eCTS, removing the requirement to lodge Consents Documents.  Target date is Aug 2021. 

[JulesM]

What do you mean Kate?  Will there be no requirement for a Bank or Vendor to sign a Consent in PEXA?

[Kate_Camilleri]

 Planning is underway Jules,

more information is available here: 

https://www.lawsociety.com.au/sites/default/files/2021-02/Letter%20to%20ORG%20-%20Real%20Property%20...