Banks are not taking this seriously!

[KezFletch]

As a long time PEXA user (and yes I love the platform) I am sick and tired of the banks treating the platform with contempt.  Yet again, I have had a settlement roll over 90 minutes this morning due to the Mortgagee on Title not lodging their Nomination until 1 minute before the agreed time.  Yes, settlement will still happen today, but what do I tell my client who has their life in a removal van - just wait another hour and a half and we can settle.  Who pays for the delays?  The extra removalists fees charged to our clients due to settlement not taking place at the allocated time.  We are now seeing practitioners charging when settlements are delayed - and this is fair enough - the workspace should have been ready/ready and we could have all moved on to other things.  Our clients will be the losing party with this practice as it can be guaranteed that the banks won't pay the extra expenses incurred purely due to their tardiness.

Something has to change, and quickly!

[Cyndal]

I agree @KezFletch. I am having this issue at the moment with settlement being due in a couple of hours and the mortgagee still not having completed the nomination even though I messaged them through conversation yesterday. It seems banks don't 'check/finalise' the workspace until the last minute which not only leaves no time for any issues/amendments requiring attention but it also leaves both practitioners who like to be prepared having to constantly check the workspace.

What can be done to push banks to check/finalise matters promptly?

[Procon]

Absolutely agree. The bank has to be put on notice for damages. It is their lack of action which caused the delay, they should be paying the additional moving expenses!

[catemccubbincomau]

Yes and now banks are using the excuse "we are doing this within the guidelines".   Perhaps the guidelines which they are using as a defence should be made known to practitioners?   And how this does fit with PEXA's comments about banks being committed and being closely monitored?

s

[TJ]

Hi @catemccubbincomau,

You can take a look at the Transfer Guidelines being referred to here on Community.

[catemccubbincomau]

Once again a settlement delayed for an hour and a half because CBA "FORGOT"  to nominate the title!    While everyone makes mistakes and forgets things occasionally, did not the alarm bells ring when they were advised by PEXA that the workspace was not ready?   Do they not do a final check on the date or settle or the day prior to settlement?     Then they have the temerity to advise that they had not inconvenienced clients.

Is this behaviour within the guidelines?    Is this showing how committed the banks are?   I note that I am still waiting to hear feedback from the CBA about an earlier problem which PEXA advised they would obtain from CBA?

[Janet1]

I have just had that conversation with CBA this morning and when I mentioned the guidelines of 24 to 48 hours for payout figures to be uploaded she told me the agreed guideline is 10am for an 11am settlement even though we were speaking at 10.20!

I explained that we also need sufficient time to then finalise the settlement statement to get the matter ready.

End result the figure was put in at the last minute and by the time the Purchaser was able to sign off on the documents the settlement rolled over.  Further it was a linked settlement.

Between this and the security breaches I am fast losing my enthusiasm for PEXA!

Something needs to get sorted and quickly.

[catemccubbincomau]

Hello Janet, I agree that there is a vast difference between the guidelines and the actual behaviour of the banks.   Also I firmly believe that PEXA should be making more of an effort to "closely monitor" the performance of the banks as they tell me they are doing.    Banks are banks and will continue to behave irresponsibly and without regard to others, unless they are pulled up by everybody making the protest.   Now is a good time for this culture to change when we are switching to electronic conveyancing and all is changing.

[BytheBay]

We should be at the point of “ending paper” not “starting pexa” by now! 

We should not be seeing “your settlement is in one hour - workspace is not ready “ ready by now!

all participants - banks particularly - need to ensure they complete workspace tasks at least  BEFORE one hour from settlement - banks could do this in the paper world - giving payout figures and confirming loan proceeds at least 2 days before settlement (when we had to rely on cheques - but it shouldn’t be any different in the electronic space. Parties simply cannot prepare and finalise matters while the banks think it’s ok to do thing “the morning of”. - this may suit bank to bank refi’s But it cannot be best practice in a vendor/purchaser settlement. Banks must accept they have responsibilities to their borrowers / but also to the other participants in that workspace  - there must be more communication by banks and s commitment to the settlement time/date which is to be considered “Agreed” when accepting a workspace invitation initiated by the vendor/purchaser. / if this no longer is achievable  a party (bank or practitioner) should propose a new time.  Roll-overs from inaction or poor matter management cannot be acceptable.  An attitude by banks that settlement can be “anytime because the platform will re-schedule itself” is not best practise or in line with the vrndor/purchaser expectations or indeed contractual obligations 

[HalilGokler]

Having the same issue 

We have 2 settlements this Monday (2 July 2018) and in both cases bank is not responsive. We send a conversation on PEXA and they don't respond. We call up to request an escalation and they advise to converse on PEXA.

Outgoing mortgagee, Westpac, is yet to upload payout figure in one case and incoming mortgagee, again Westpac through St George, are yet to upload source funds on the other.

Luckily we are representing the otherside in both transactions. Pressure is the representatives acting to deliver on Monday morning.