About Morvanna

Our practitioners and financial institutions are working more closely than ever before, thanks to digital settlements. Hear from Bendigo Bank’s James Astill and Ruth Behrends about digitisation in the banking sphere and how all parties can best collaborate to streamline the settlement process.   For our Members that missed the Behind the settlement scene at Bendigo Bank webinar you can now watch the recording here.     ... View more

   It has been an incredibly busy August in Queensland. Our members have been driving significant momentum in the sunny state and this blog is dedicated to celebrating those firms who are helping lead the industry’s digitisation, showing leadership in their regions and collaborating selflessly with their peers.    Without further ado, I’d like to acknowledge the following firms:   Empire Legal, Spring Hill - Surpassing 100 PEXA settlements.   Empire Legal has been registered with PEXA for 12 months now and has embraced e-conveyancing ever since joining. They are strong advocates and are always encouraging other Brisbane CBD firms to embrace PEXA. They celebrated this achievement with a well-earned morning tea.   Colwell Lyons Lawyers, Northside Brisbane – Celebrating 500 PEXA settlements and becoming PEXA Certified   Colwell Lyons Lawyers is a well-established and recognised law firm on the northside of Brisbane, with the firm’s Principal, David Colwell, having practiced in the area for more than 30 years. With many long-standing clients and business referrals, the firm has an extensive knowledge of the conveyancing process. It has been an absolute privilege to observe the firm’s PEXA journey – having started transacting towards the end of 2019, and now being graduated to PEXA Certified status as well as recently eclipsing 500 PEXA settlements milestone. Congratulations to the entire fantastic team!   Sunshine Coast Members – Busy Bees   Our cohort on the Sunshine Coast has been extremely active in August, with the following members now having all completed in excess of 10 PEXA settlements:   Caloundra Law Vantage Law Siemons Lawyers Turbo Legal SJP Law Conveyancing First Bill Lyons Solicitors Fox Taylor Mildwaters Hopkins Manttan JHK Legal (Sunshine Coast) Young&Co Law It is a credit to each of these firms on how they have embraced PEXA during COVID-19 and created a sense of community on the Sunshine Coast to support each other during the need for change at this time.  We look forward to celebrating more milestones with each of you in the near future.    Wallace Davies Solicitors, Redcliffe – hitting 100+ settlements!   Wallace Davies Solicitors has recently exceeded 100 settlements and continue to advocate for PEXA on the peninsula. Well done to the team for their tremendous efforts.   Connor Hunter, Wynnum – surpassing 250 PEXA settlements   Congratulations to Connor Hunter for surpassing 250 PEXA Settlements and becoming PEXA Certified. Connor Hunter were early adopters in the Redland Bay area and continue to encourage the local firms to get onboard!     Bell Legal Group – hit 100 QLD PEXA settlements!   Bell Legal was founded in 1955 and is the Gold Coast’s longest established law firm.  Steeped in history, Bell Legal Group reached a PEXA milestone this month celebrating 100 QLD PEXA settlements! The team at Bell Legal have been an absolute delight to support while they transition to electronic settlements. @JPrins    Foxlaw, Rockhampton – PEXA Certified & 100+ settlements!   Josh and the team at Foxlaw have been using PEXA for a while now and have always been great advocates in the Rockhampton Region. Josh got his team on board early and made sure they could help any other firm in the area make the transition. Foxlaw’s drive to change the way a traditional transaction was completed saw them power on up over 100 settlements and become PEXA Certified. Congratulations team, enjoy your well-earned success.   Bowen Law, Cairns – PEXA Certified   Congratulations to Bowen Law on becoming the first firm in Cairns to become PEXA Certified.  As one of the early adopters of e-conveyancing in the area of e-Conveyancing, Bowen Law love the time saving benefits of PEXA and the fact they can do multi-jurisdictional, contemporaneous settlements which is something that is impossible to do in a paper settlement.    They are also embracing PEXA Projects with an upcoming development ensuring their clients are provided with a more streamlined and secure transaction from start to finish.   Again, congratulations to all the members mentioned this month for their hard work with these achievements.   PEXA has a strong support network for new and inexperienced users and very quickly, with the guidance from our team, and the friendly nature of our community, you’ll be up-to-speed and achieving milestones like the above firms in no time. Keep an eye out each month for our wrap up of the community’s achievements!   ... View more

QLS have provided an update to their COVID 19 related FAQ's in response to the recent changes in restrictions in Queensland.   You can view this update on the QLS website  here. ... View more

ARNECC have issued a Notice to Subscribers (2020-NS1) to clarify their position in relation to the digital Verification of Identity.     You can view their notice here. ... View more

Titles Registry have issued a reminder that, further to Titles Registry Alert 171, revised Queensland Titles Registry fees will take effect from 1 August 2020. The revised fees are prescribed in the Natural Resources, Mines and Energy Legislation (Fees) Amendment Regulation 2020 which is available on the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel website. Attached for your information is a summary listing the revised Titles Registry fees (click here) The Titles Registry online fee calculator will be updated on 1 August 2020 to reflect the revised fees that commence on that date. Please note that up to and including 31 July 2020 the calculator will continue to function using the existing fees. ... View more

      With PEXA Plus it is easier than ever to track your PEXA Exchange workspaces and keep up to date.   Want to see a calendar of upcoming settlements? Or a status summary of all your workspaces?   Visit PEXA Plus today and access a dashboard of helpful tools to assist you in managing your workspaces.   GET STARTED   Access PEXA Plus via the app menu in the top right-hand corner of your PEXA account.     FAQs are available in the PEXA Plus hub on Community.     Why use PEXA Plus to manage your workspaces?   Customise your dashboard with the features you find most helpful:   Interactive workspace overviews Prioritise with ease thanks to a calendar of upcoming settlements, a list of matters settling today and a colour-coded summary of all workspaces. Monitor invitations you’ve sent or those requiring a response from you with the handy tracker. Simply click through to any workspace to take action.   Learning assistance Fast-track your way to PEXA proficiency with a Learning Checklist linked to help articles in the e-Conveyancing Community.   Announcements Stay up to date with important announcements. New releases, pricing updates and more - delivered directly to your dashboard.   PEXA Plus is evolving to provide you tools and services to assist with your conveyancing matters. If you have suggestions for new features, the team and I would love to hear them. ... View more

To start the week  of  In Conversations, we are hearing from James Harding, Senior Associate at Holding Redlich,Cairns.  Holding Redlich are an extremely tech savvy firm who have embraced e-conveyancing and do a high volume of settlements through the PEXA platform.   1.  Have you had to adapt your working environment since COVID-19?   By utilising the online team meeting platforms such as Zoom, Webex and Microsoft team to catch up with clients and colleagues. Our regular desk phones in the office are integrated with video call so fortunately it hasn’t been too different to our usual day to day operations.   We had already made some progress in moving to a less paper-based environment and we took this opportunity to further enhance many of our processes and functions to be able to do much more of our work electronically.  Our offices have been well fitted out so that there was a choice for employees to be able to work from home, work from the office or do a combination.   Our IT team worked tirelessly to provide hardware and software to those employees who needed to work from home or chose to work from home but didn’t have infrastructure at home to do so.   2.  If so, how is your firm managing to stay connected and together?   With the availability of video calls on our usual phone system and Webex, we were able to have regular contact with our team members, other people in the firm across the country and continue to have our regular team meetings.  In fact, we ended up having more team meetings as those who work flexibly or in other locations were able to take advantage of the technology to be able to meet at any time.  Some teams even got to have more contact with their team mates on a more social basis too as we had ‘virtual’ social events, groups forms on various social media, and some people introduced their family members (furry and human) on various video calls.  Our human resources team also kept in touch with various people by phone, video meetings, instant messaging, social media to regularly check in on people to see how they were coping and if they needed any further support whether they were working in the office or at home.  We also had (and still have) a daily check in so that the leadership team and human resources know which location people are working in and whether they are feeling well.   3.  How do you see PEXA’s role in togetherness?   PEXA has allowed us to continue working with our clients during the disruptions that COVID-19 has caused. PEXA has ensured our staff can continue working in a socially distanced manner to ensure their settlements occur. Without PEXA, a few months ago these necessary transactions would have potentially come to a standstill.   4.  What’s something you have learnt recently about Cyber Security?   Property transactions are often subject to scams and fraudulent transactions. Verification of Identity and Multi-factor authentication is integral to the safety of sellers and purchasers to ensure the dealings are legitimate and the respective interests are protected.   5.  Why do you use PEXA Community?   PEXA supports flexible work arrangements as our conveyancers and team are able to communicate with all parties and proceed to settlement in their own home or remote office. It provides a convenient platform to facilitate settlements where all the required documents are in one place. The platform has ensured we can continue to deliver for our clients in a prompt and secure way.   6.  How do you actively seek feedback from your clients to improve your business?   Informally, we touch base with clients for feedback within the course of working on their matter. We have also recently moved to a new client feedback program where we seek formal feedback by way of an annual online survey.          ... View more

QLD Titles Registry have today advised the following updated arrangements for titles registry lodgements:-   “The preferred way for professionals to lodge Titles Registry documents is through eLodgement or eConveyancing.    The Brisbane Titles Registry office (located at Level 11, 53 Albert Street, Brisbane) remains open for Titles lodgements using the drop-off box facility from 9:00am to 4:00pm, Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays). Postal lodgements can be made by posting documents to GPO Box 1401, Brisbane, 4001.  Lodgements can also be made at a number of regional business centres*. See the Titles Registry contacts page for lodgement hours and street addresses.  For more information, see Payments and lodgement of Titles Registry forms.“ ... View more

Hi Community,   There’s currently three ways to lodge documents in Queensland: eLodge as provided by the state government, in paper or digitally via PEXA.   Each channel follows varied processes and as such, has unique characteristics. To help you better understand these lodgement methods, we’ve provided the attached overview. ... View more

This week In Conversations, we hear from Yasmin Parker, Principal of QPLG in Townsville.   For many years Yasmin has been a strong advocate for e-conveyancing and is passionate about ensuring she provides her clients with the very best customer service possible.   Have you had to adapt your working environment since COVID-19?   There has been less face to face contact with clients – what can be done over the phone or electronically is done that way and the essential tasks such as witnessing transfers are completed face to face.  For some clients, I have travelled to see them to reduce the number of people they come in contact with.   How have you maintained connection and the relationship with your clients during this time?   I’m still available for appointments with clients if they would like to meet and clients know I will always pick up the phone when they call.  It’s also been interesting to hear the experience of clients from New South Wales, Victoria and New Zealand about how the COVID-19 changes have impacted them.   What security features about PEXA do you think benefit your client?   I have just started using PEXA Key and I think this is the safest way to make sure that the clients settlement funds are ending up exactly where the client wants them.     Why do you use PEXA Community?   I know that it is a place I can go to if I have a question or a problem, because there is always a chance someone else has had a similar experience and I might find the answer there.  I also enjoy reading about what is happening with PEXA in the other states and seeing what opportunities Queensland has to look forward to.     What’s been your experience when providing feedback to PEXA?   I haven’t yet provided feedback directly to PEXA.  If ever I have a problem or a concern in the PEXA workspace, I know I can always ask our Practitioner Specialist, Morvanna Jones.  Morvanna is always happy to answer questions, provide assistance of find out more information for me.   ... View more

DNRME have today announced that the revised Queensland Titles Registry fees will take effect from 1 August 2020.    The revised fees are prescribed in the Natural Resources, Mines and Energy Legislation (Fees) Amendment Regulation 2020 which is available on the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel website . To view the summary listing of the revised Titles Registry fees that will apply from 1 August 2020 please  click here. The Titles Registry online fee calculator will be updated on 1 August 2020 to reflect the revised fees that commence on that date. Please note that up to and including 31 July 2020 the existing fees will continue to apply.   For further information on the amended fees please contact the Titles Registry on 1300 255 750 or email titlesinfo@dnrme.qld.gov.au.   ... View more

Starting this week of In Conversations, we hear from Madeleine Hillier, Solicitor at Smithfield Law in Cairns.   The Team @SmithfieldLaw are lawyers with attitude, compassion and a sense of humour.  Their  aim is to provide their clients with professional and affordable legal and practical advice and to assist them when they need it the most.   Have you had to adapt your working environment since COVID-19? Increasing our office cleanliness (wiping down surfaces etc), avoiding sharing pens, emailing/posting documents rather than offering collection and keeping a safe distance from visitors/staff.   How have you maintained connection and the relationship with your clients during this time? A good number of walk-in clients greatly appreciate that we have not locked our doors and are still open to assist with our Free JP service or taking appointments for initial consultations.   New faces are a refreshing break from isolation – we enjoy the new opportunities to share our experiences and having an ear for theirs.   We have been contacted by interstate law firms to assist with witnessing/identification. We go the extra mile with helping out the members of our community who have been cut off from other states. We have been waiving some disbursements like printing – every penny counts and clients are very grateful for our friendly assistance and time.   Is there anything in particular your firm focuses on for security? We are vigilant with confirming bank account details either in person, by video link or over the phone with regular clients.   What’s something you have learnt recently about Cyber Security? We have recently learned about the risks of using the Google Chrome saved passwords function. Our IT team have recommended we use ‘Last Pass’ instead – it is really handy to use especially for saving usernames and passwords for council searches we do not regularly use. No more flipping through our outdated folder of passwords and calling up councils.   What’s your favourite help tool on community? The webinars are a great way to refresh our knowledge on procedure and answer any questions we have (or didn’t know we had) about using PEXA.   Why do you use PEXA Community? It encourages individual professional development and is quick and easy.   What’s been your experience when providing feedback to PEXA? We have not provided much feedback but when we do we contact our PEXA Direct Specialist, Morvanna Jones, and we are satisfied that we are heard and a solution is provided.     ... View more

Congratulations to Salerno Law for achieving over 100 PEXA settlements!    Salerno Law are a firm that are committed to their clients and who care about the outcomes that they deliver.  This is what drives their unique attention to detail and commitment to results and it is of no surprise that they have reached this amazing milestone so quickly.   With offices in Queensland, Western Australia, New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, Los Angeles in the USA, and Ayrshire in Scotland they recognised early on the importance of embracing e-conveyancing as it enables them to provide a streamlined service to their clients wherever they are in the world and aligns with their values of providing excellent customer service and being committed to their clients.   Great work to the team at @Salerno.  Thanks for sharing the pics of your well-earned celebration with us.  We all look forward to celebrating many more milestones with you in the future.   ... View more

  PEXA and the QLD Team are working in collaboration with industry to ensure that in the current uncertain times, businesses continue to operate, with technology playing a defining role in this.  It is important to us that you feel supported during these times so if there is something we can do to help you please feel free to reach out to your PEXA Specialist to discuss same.   These are some of the things we are currently doing to provide support to our Members:-   Supporting you Your local QLD PEXA Specialist is here to meet with you virtually to help you transact online with confidence and ease. There are also a number of recorded webinars and Community support you through the process. See full details here.   Better Together 50% of Pricing In support of QLD PEXA members and the shift to electronic, the current pricing offer will now be extended until 30 September 2020. Receive 50% off the price for Transfers, Priority Notices and Transmissions. See full details here   Free Virtual VOI Offer GlobalX are offering PEXA members in Queensland, free access to VirtualVOI until 30 June 2020, supporting you with digital transactions*. See full details here.  We’d like to remind you that ARNECC has issued a statement for completing VOIs and CAFs during the COVID-19. You can continue to make VOI face to face appointments remain available via Australia Post, ZipID and IDSecure.   Click here to see other ways PEXA is supporting you and your business during COVID-19. ... View more

It seems like only yesterday that I was in Mossman celebrating Bolt Burchill Tranter becoming the first firm in the Cairns region to become PEXA Certified and today I had the pleasure of joining them in a virtual morning tea to celebrate the momentous milestone of hitting over 100 PEXA settlements.   As PEXA’s most northerly registered firm Bolt Burchill Tranter pride themselves in advancing their clients’ interests and strengthening their business and the local community and this milestone reinforces that this firm truly lives by their values.   Congratulations to the team. This is an amazing achievement that you should all be extremely proud of.    ... View more