PEXA and Registration of By-Laws in New South Wales
New changes to the land title system in New South Wales are coming, effective 11 October 2021, that will transition cumbersome paper-based processes to electronic lodgement.
NSW Land Registry Services has announced amendments will be made to the Real Property Amendment (Certificates of Title) Act 2021, which will lead to three significant changes for strata managers.
These changes include:
- The cancellation of Certificates of Title (CTs),
- The transition to one hundred percent electronic lodgement for all land dealings, also referred to as ‘100% eConveyancing’, and
- Strata managers will no longer be able to register by-laws themselves. All by-laws will be required to be registered through PEXA.
Registration of By-Laws
Since the introduction of Property Exchange Australia (PEXA) on 22 March 2021, the strata sector has progressively moved away from paper.
Now, under these new laws, strata managers must submit the Consolidation/Change of By-Laws form electronically through PEXA.
An electronic platform, PEXA streamlines and shortens processes relating to property through NSW Land Registry Services by using electronic forms. Original documents are no longer required to be lodged over the counter.
To protect against identify theft and fraudulent activity and ensure the process remains secure, strata managers submitting pages to be registered must complete two additional steps through PEXA. These are:
- Lodge a signed Client Authorisation Form (CAF), and
- Undertake the Verification of Identity (VOI) process.
The VOI process can be completely in person or remotely using a mobile device. It is an identification process that lasts for two years.
Certificates of Title
From 11 October 2021, all existing Certificates of Title (CTs) will be cancelled and no future CTs will be issued.
The same will also apply to authorised deposit-taking institutions, including banks, in relation to Control of the Right to Deal (CoRD), which is the electronic equivalent of CTs.
100% eConveyancing
From 11 October 2021, paper lodgement of land dealings will no longer be permitted under the new laws.
Under the NSW Conveyancing Rules, the Registrar General has mandated that all electronic dealings listed in the Schedule of eDealings through the NSW Land Registry Services (LRS) must be lodged electronically.
Additionally, electronic lodgement of land dealings to NSW LRS can only be completed by a subscriber, such as a lawyer, licensed conveyancer, or bank, to a prescribed Electronic Lodgement Network.
For more information on the changes relating to Certificates of Title and 100% eConveyancing, please click here