The Evolution of Conveyancing Services in Western Australia: From Paper to Digital
Over recent years, digital technology has made life easier in many areas, including passport applications, home loans, and now conveyancing services. In fact, digital conveyancing has been mandated in Western Australia since 1 December 2018, recognising the benefits of lightening the load for buyers, sellers, and conveyancers. Did you know that KDD Conveyancing has been an early adopter of digital conveyancing since 2016?
Ultimately, this has resulted in quicker property settlements. Digitising and securely automating the property conveyancing process saves everyone time and money and reduces paperwork.
The traditional paperwork property conveyancing services process
Before the rise of digital technology, property settlement was heavily manual. The types of tasks that were traditionally carried out manually but are now digitised include:
- Physical title searches at the land registry
- Signing and exchange of forms and contracts
- Paying stamp duty by attending state revenue offices
- All parties attending settlement in person
These manual processes involved considerable human effort, coordination, time, and paperwork, especially with communication limited to phone calls and scheduling in-person appointments. Today, digital conveyancing eliminates all these challenges while delivering the same excellent conveyancing services, helping everyone stay connected and on track more efficiently.
The move to paperless conveyancing
In December 2018, Western Australia moved to fully digitised conveyancing, following other states that had already transitioned to this approach.
These changes have included:
- Access to digital documents: These can be accessed from the relevant authorities, which means hard copies are no longer needed. Digital versions help reduce the risk of lost documents, which can lead to processing delays.
- Electronic service of notices: Notices no longer need to be served by fax or post and can now be handled via email, making service of notice more convenient and efficient.
- Online signatures: There is no need for multiple parties to sign the same physical legal document, saving time.
- Online payments: This includes online stamp duty processing and the online transmission and settlement of funds.
- Digital verification of identity: Identification verification can now be conducted with the conveyancer in minutes using digital technology via our chosen Verification of Identity (VOI) tool. This has replaced the manual and lengthy process of verifying physical documents, which used to be done in person.
What is electronic conveyancing services?
With electronic conveyancing, transactions are settled electronically through the platform provided by Property Exchange Australia Limited (PEXA). It’s an electronic workspace where the parties settle. The conveyancers all work in the same virtual workspace to complete the settlement steps. The workspace can only be accessed by certified Property Lawyers or Conveyancers
Digital conveyancing services make your conveyancing and life easier
Modern digital conveyancing helps the community keep up with the faster pace of life, resulting in a smoother, quicker, and more secure settlement process.
Streamlined process
The transfer documents are completed electronically in the workspace by the conveyancers. This eliminates the need to post and wait for the physical Transfer of Land document to arrive.
The workspace provides transparency to conveyancers who have visibility over which parties are ready to settle and any outstanding tasks. It also automatically triggers lodgement and settlement once the required steps have been completed.
Proceeds are also distributed immediately post-sale through electronic banking.
Reduction in risk of errors
With the ability to upload and refer to digitised documents, there is less risk of human error. Direct access to databases, such as Land Registry data, also means access to pre-loaded information.
Pre-settlement lodgement checks are conducted, which ensures no errors are carried over to the post-settlement stage.
Time savings
The streamlined process means there is less chance of delays and quicker property settlement.
According to Landgate WA, the average turnaround time for lodgement documents for Transfer of Land, Discharge of Mortgage, or Mortgage is 20 seconds to three days, compared with 37 days by paper lodgement.
Without the need to attend in person to sign, lodge or serve documents, transactions such as the lodging of land registry instrument documents can occur without parties having to take extra time out of their daily activities. Time is also saved by not having to organise such meetings.
Cost savings
Time is money, and digitised conveyancing means less time and travel costs spent travelling to various offices to lodge or sign documents.
With less manual labour, settlement costs less, and you save on conveyancing fees.
Security of documents, data and funds
The digital transfer of documents and settlement funds means less chance of losing these along the process.
With no cheques involved, any risks associated with this are reduced.
Less environmental impact
With fewer physical documents to sign, there’s also less paperwork, which is better for the environment.
KDD’s digital conveyancing services
KDD Conveyancing Perth’s strong focus on efficiency, transparency, and excellence was why we embraced digital conveyancing services earlier than they were mandated. Having offered digital conveyancing to Regional WA and Perth Metropolitan conveyancing clients for the past 10 years, together with over two decades in conveyancing, you can trust that we understand the ins and outs of the process and can guide you every step of the way. If you have any questions or concerns about the digital conveyancing process, we are happy to discuss these with you.
We welcome you to get in touch, as we would love to offer our friendly and personalised conveyancing services for a smooth and quick property settlement, expedited with the modern assistance of digital conveyancing.
