About BelindaLeFevre

Hi @JanH ,   Apologies we have not responded before now.  Essentially consents were still accepted by NSWLRS up until last week.  Moving forward, consents are both not required and unable to be lodged.   Hope this helps! cheers Belinda ... View more

Hi @JulesM    Great question and one that is asked regularly by members.    Similarly, banks ask “why hasn’t the practitioner hit the “ready for shortfall” button?    It’s clear the process can be difficult as there are many dependent activities, and each case has it’s own set of “gotchas”.  Here at PEXA we know the frustrations and have embarked on a project to improve on-time settlements across the industry.  Our work so far, has identified some key points:   Incoming mortgagees are reliant on the practitioner selecting the “ready for shortfall” button to enable them to enter loan funds Ready for Shortfall functionality provides an indicative figure for the bank to work with – they can’t enter an amount without this Stamp Duty verification needs to be performed prior Practitioners are reliant on banks completing the shortfall indicator to be able to select “ready for shortfall" Incoming mortgagees should utilise the tick boxes for loan docs sent and loan docs received to enable timely follow up with the client Outgoing mortgagees should utilise the tick boxes for DA sent and DA received Delays in receipt of mortgages and related documents, is a key reason for delayed settlements – we call this the “fruit bowl factor” This type of delay can grind the whole settlement to a stand still.  Where jurisdictions allow, banks are deploying e-documents for digital signature which are effective at speeding up the turn around (no time in the post, not need to print and wet sign) etc Stamp Duty verification delays are also a key contributing factor for delayed settlements There are often good reasons for these delays, but, it does cause a knock on effect All documents need to be created to calculate figures – document and land registry fees are calculated post document creation Bank figures can be delayed by a client paying out additional debts for which payout figures are required Matters can have complex funding structures or be linked to other transactions Payout figures (indicative) can be provided early, however final figures can be difficult to provide until the day of - in many cases they can change depending on client behaviour Locking client accounts is not possible in most circumstances   Amongst this landscape of interdependencies, there have been some additional challenges.  The majors have been open with their struggles throughout the pandemic with short staffing, change in processes to support remote working, swift onshoring of teams, recruitment and training difficulties.  It’s been a rough ride for the entire industry as transaction numbers soar in response to the pandemic and low interest rates.   Importantly, we have discovered that around 30% of transactions scheduled to settle on a given day, will not settle on that day.  Often other parties to the transaction are not aware, resulting in wasted effort for those parties.  PEXA has developed health indicators to let participants know when things are off track on the key elements of a settlement.  New functionality will be available in our R15.0 to help with this and a trial in the jurisdiction of South Australia will commence shortly.  Rest assured, the entire industry are working together to improve the settlement experience for everyone.   Hope this helps! Belinda ... View more

A brief update - please feel free to provide feedback to First Legal directly via the link below:   https://fms.aus.allegiancetech.com/cgi-bin/qwebcorporate.dll?idx=5WE6H5   Feedback will be reviewed directly by the First Legal Quality Team.   ... View more

Hi @danielR , thank you for sharing this feedback.  I’m one of First Legal’s account managers at PEXA and feedback like this is really helpful for us to understand how we might be able to help improve the overall settlement experience.     Panel lawyers operate in an often challenging environment due to the funding scenario you mention.  Further compounding matters is the high volume environment the industry is experiencing post COVID, coupled with the usual additional high volumes of end of financial year.      I appreciate what an incredibly frustrating situation this is for you and ultimately our shared client who is waiting to access their new home.  Improving the on time settlement experience is the number 1 priority for PEXA as a business and there is considerable work underway with the market to review the process end to end.  Practitioners are represented at Member Advisory Council sessions in each state comprised of practitioners and industry bodies with attendance by major banks.      Stay tuned as we look to improve the experience in the coming months.   In the meantime, I’ll share this feedback with First Legal and keep the feedback coming!   Thanks Belinda  ... View more

Hi @nfras000 ,   Unfortunately Government do not wish to open up this functionality electronically.  There are some other threads on the topic here that explain the rationale behind this decision.  @RobertGoncalves-NSWORG @SandrahMikha-NSWORG are you able to comment further?   cheers Belinda ... View more

Hi @CindyBrown,   The current wording can be found on the land tax payable document.  My understanding is there are plans to include this wording in a variety of documents as well as commentary on the RNSW website.   Re:  "Also, how is this going to work when the paper waiver ends on 31st March and the purchaser refuses to settle without a clear land tax certificate regardless of being "able" to pay it in PEXA" . Understand your concern.  This is where messaging on the RNSW website and associated documents will be important to ensure everyone is aware of the new process.  The Law Society are working with RNSW to facilitate some communication.  I also understand from the ORG they intend to provide some communication on the matter prior to the expiry of the waiver.   Hope this helps! cheers Belinda ... View more

Hi @AndrewK,   That does sound onerous.    My understanding is you would only need to get the land tax payable letter if the Section 47 returned saying there was Land Tax payable.  In the examples below, did you order a Section 47?  If there was nothing owing, there should be no need to request anything further from Revenue - they only generate the letters if there is a debt outstanding.   There is some work going on at the moment with RNSW and the Law Society to fine tune the process and communications will be made available at the conclusion of this activity.   cheers Belinda ... View more

Hi @Cory,   Yes good question.  The long-awaited Notice of Death will be available in Release 11.1.1, scheduled for 14 March.  This was pushed out a couple of weeks from the original date in February due to some delays.  Details of this release can be found here .   Change of Name on the other hand, will be one of the first document types released under the new Residual Documents Strategy.  The RDS was developed to speed up the introduction of the long tail of documents required to reach 100% digital.  The RDS provides a framework to enable NSW LRS to design the remaining forms at their own pace.  NSW LRS have proposed Change of Name to be ready in the March/April timeframe.    Meanwhile, Release 11.1.0  features an increase in scope for part tenancy transfers, to enable joint tenancy matters to be dealt with using part tenancy functionality.  R 11.1.0 will be available in production 10 February.  Details are here.   Thanks for your patience! Belinda ... View more

Happy New Year Community and welcome to 2020.    Sending our love to all communities that have been hit hard by the fires across the state - our thoughts are with you and the dedicated firies battling as we speak.   On the topic of Writs.  Here are the facts:   The RIS or Registry Information Supply that populates the "Land Titles" screen in your PEXA workspace, does NOT show if a writ is on title.  In fact there are a number of 2nd schedule dealings that are not populated on this screen.  See the chart below: 2 nd schedule dealings Dealing In RIS Detected in TAC   Writ No If lodged in TAC period   Charge No If lodged in TAC period   Plan Lodged No If lodged in TAC period   Easement No If lodged in TAC period   Caveat Yes If lodged in TAC period   Lease Yes If lodged in TAC period A writ IS detected in a TAC (Title Activity Check), providing the writ is lodged during the TAC period. The TAC period runs from 60 days before the workspace is opened, then weekly right through until the week of settlement, at which time it will run daily then 1 hour before settlement.   It is imperative that a full title search is run prior to opening a workspace, but equally important the search is completed no earlier than 60 days prior to opening the workspace. It's anticipated NSW LRS will start to send through 2nd schedule dealings information in RIS in the next few months as other dealing types are created for lodgement via PEXA, and require this data eg removal of a writ.   Reminder - the Land Titles screen in PEXA is not equivalent to a full title search. ... View more

Hi @katherineglenn011 @Jessmem ,   We have another thread on this topic here and it is not the first time we have had this request.  The issue is around what is acceptable by NSW LRS and Office of the Registrar General (ORG).  PEXA creates documents in the platform based on the National E-conveyancing Data Standards.  Unfortunately in the data standards, there is no scope for providing a transfer without the consideration.  I have been liaising with ORG on if this functionality is something they would agree to.  Unfortunately the response has come back that they would not support this change and in fact, they are looking to change the rules in paper to mirror this.   Part of their argument is the transmission of the NOS information to the Valuer General means that the consideration amount becomes available shortly after settlement anyway, so there is limited value in leaving it off the transfer as people can find out the consideration within a few days.   For further discussion, please contact ORG-eConveyancing@customerservice.nsw.gov.au.   Hope this helps to clarify!   cheers Belinda   ... View more

Hi @LeahStevens,   I've asked the question at Revenue NSW - just waiting on an answer.  I think there are some issues that prevent the debt letter from being auto generated.  The Vendor would need to contact Revenue NSW and then request the total outstanding be calculated, and a letter outlining the total debt owing.    I'll update once I have further information. cheers B ... View more

Hi @Saysa, just confirming the new residual documents are for Victorian jurisdiction? ... View more

Hi @DZTS,   PEXA designs the functionality in PEXA based on data standards provided to us by the Land Registries in each jurisdiction. We are required to adhere to the data standards.  In order for for us to make the change in PEXA to allow transfers to not display the consideration, agreement is required from our government stakeholders.   I'm aware there is a discrepancy between what was allowed in paper, and what is allowed electronically which may have been by design rather than accidental, as government look to achieve certain goals through e-conveyancing.  Having said that, I think NSW are open to changing this, and the topic is being debated.  Once a decision has been made, PEXA will insert this into our development schedule - noting existing priorities and the urgency NSW government place on this.  I will certainly pass on the feedback from this thread and endeavour to have this escalated.  NSWLRS will need to make some changes at their end to accommodate also, but hopefully we can have this up and running sooner rather than later as I know this is important in certain transactions.   Hope this helps to clarify!   cheers Belinda ... View more

Hi @SusanDonoghoe,   No update yet unfortunately.  I have followed up with our government partners and a way forward is still being discussed.  I'll keep a watching brief on this and report back to the thread as soon as an update is available.   Kind regards Belinda ... View more

Hi @fadichahine ,   The short answer is, an electronic settlement is required and the citizen needs to be represented in the workspace by a PEXA subscriber.   The 2/2019 waiver to Conveyancing Rule 8.7, allows for paper lodgement where both the transferee and transferor are not represented by a legal practitioner or licensed conveyancer and the transfer is standalone.  This waiver is designed to cater for transfers between family members that may not engage legal representation.  https://www.registrargeneral.nsw.gov.au/publications-and-rules/conveyancing-rules-waivers   In the case you describe below, the citizen would need to be represented in the workspace by a PEXA subscriber for the purpose of completing the transaction.  They may opt to be represented by a lawyer, conveyancer or e-lodgement agent.   cheers Belinda ... View more

Hi @Ashlee ,   Unfortunately writs or the removal/cancellation of, can't be transacted in PEXA.  See the list of eligible dealings on the LRS Registrar General's Guidelines here.  Land Registries in our live jurisdictions and PEXA are working together towards 100% digital lodgment and a road map of residual dealings are prioritized nationally on a regular basis.   There is no date yet for writs in NSW.   cheers Belinda   ... View more