The Importance of Verification of Identity in the Property Settlement Process
WHAT IS VOI?
Verification of Identity (VOI) is required whenever property is being sold or transferred in Western Australia in order to protect against land title fraud. Since the introduction of electronic conveyancing, both sellers and buyers are required to verify their identity before residential settlements or other conveyancing transactions can be completed.
At KDD Conveyancing, we work with you to ensure that the VOI process is completed as quickly as possible and with minimal inconvenience.
VOI IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Electronic conveyancing was introduced in Western Australia in 2015 and is now the standard process for both residential and commercial settlements, as well as for lodging or withdrawing caveats. Consequently, ID checks for property settlements in Perth is more rigorous than the standard 100-point check, as it involves both photo ID documents and preferably a face-to-face meeting, and reduces the reliance on documents that are easily obtained, such as utility bills.
WHY DOES YOUR CONVEYANCER NEED TO VERIFY YOUR IDENTITY?
A conveyancer is required to successfully identify any person for whom they are preparing Landgate documents for that will affect the land title. This is in order to ensure that it is a genuine person who is buying or selling property, and to reduce the possibility of identity theft, land title fraud or other improper transactions.
The documents that are required for the VOI process to be completed are set out in the Land Title Verification of Identity Form, available on the on the Landgate website.
HOW LONG DOES THE VOI LAST FOR IN WA?
If the agency responsible for your conveyancing in Perth represents you on an ongoing or continuous basis in regard to the transfer of real property in WA, ID checks are required on the first and second transfer, but not on any subsequent transfers within the next two years.
However, if you undertake another land title transaction after this two-year period, or if you switch to another property conveyancing practitioner, the verification of identity process will need to be undertaken once more.
HOW DOES THIS CHANGE IMPACT YOU?
This aside, the changes have not been significant, and as your VOI is valid for two years, any other land transactions you are involved with during this time do not require the identity verification process to be undertaken again.
HOW KDD CONDUCTS THE VOI PROCESS FOR YOU
At KDD Conveyancing, we offer a verification of identity service that expedites the process and ensures there are no unnecessary delays in your residential or commercial settlement.
There are three VOI options that we offer:
1.IN PERSON, AT OUR OFFICES IN PERTH
If you undertake VOI in person at the KDD Conveyancing offices, we will take a photograph of your original documents, which we then upload to our secure database. In the interests of security, we do not retain hard or paper copies of any of your documentation.
2.VIRTUAL VOI VIA AN SMS LINK
If you opt for our Virtual VOI Service (which is powered by ID Secure/GlobalX), you will be sent a SMS link from your conveyancer that is valid for 96 hours. You will then be prompted to upload copies of your ID documents and to take a photo of yourself.
Document Verification Services (DVS) and optical character recognition (OCR) technology are then used to verify that the documents are authentic, and the person in the photo is the same as in the uploaded documents.
This VOI report will then instantly be sent to our ID Portal, where it will be stored securely for 9 years.
3. IN PERSON AT AN AUSTRALIA POST OFFICE
It is possible for an individual to have their identity independently verified in accordance with Landgate’s VOI requirements through a participating Australia Post office.
We would always recommend, wherever possible, options 1 or 2, as these are the most efficient ways of getting the job done with the least inconvenience. It is important to know that we cannot proceed to settlement until the identity of all clients in a transaction have been verified.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN YOUR VOI PROCESS
In order to complete the steps required for verification of identity, original ID documents need to be provided. These are divided into five categories, ranked 1 to 5 in value order; most people will generally fall into the first three categories:
CATEGORY 1
- Australian Passport or foreign passport
- plus Australian drivers licence with photo or Photo Card
- plus change of name or marriage certificate if necessary
CATEGORY 2
- Australian Passport or foreign passport
- plus full birth certificate or citizenship certificate or descent certificate
- plus Medicare or Centrelink or Department of Veterans’ Affairs card
- plus change of name or marriage certificate if necessary
CATEGORY 3
- Australian drivers licence with photo or Photo Card
- plus full birth certificate or citizenship certificate or descent certificate
- plus Medicare or Centrelink or Department of Veterans’ Affairs card
- plus change of name or marriage certificate if necessary
FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING VOI FOR PROPERTY SETTLEMENT
Please contact us if you feel you are not able to meet the above proof of identity requirements at reception@kddconveyancing.com.au or (08) 9296 8717 today!