Will mandated electronic settlements make life easier for conveyancers?

With mandated electronic lodgement coming into effect in NSW on 1 July, clients of legal-tech innovator InfoTrack are in two minds about the way forward.

From 1 July, practitioners in NSW will no longer be able to lodge mainstream property dealings in paper leaving practitioners to complete the dealings via an Electronic Lodgement Network Operator (ELNO).

InfoTrack CEO, John Ahern says that “If you break it down, firms have traditionally used manual settlement agents to handle the administration of their settlement. What the e-settlement mandate is doing, is bringing that responsibility back into the firms and loading them up with additional administrative tasks.”

Whilst many InfoTrack clients are keen to embrace the transition and are gearing up to handle it, InfoTrack client Joliman Lawyers is working through some challenges.

Nicholas Haney, General Manager of Joliman Lawyers says “The additional time it’s taking our firm to complete an electronic settlement compared with handing it over to a manual settlement agent is lengthy and not cost-effective. Our staff have had to undergo intensive training on how to lodge electronically and we are still adapting our processes.”

Mr Ahern continues, “whilst there are those practitioners already preparing for electronic lodgement, there are also those who feel like the mandate has been thrust upon them and they need support to deal with the changes. This is where SettleIT can help.”

Olivia Blackam from Thurlow Fisher Lawyers represented the view of many practitioners in the room at InfoTrack’s recent Sydney e-conveyancing seminars. Olivia shared the story of her firm’s resistance to the e-settlement mandate and their decision to outsource the administration of the PEXA process to InfoTrack’s SettleIT team. Olivia says that “we now outsource our e-settlements processing and have confidence that the process is managed efficiently without having to increase our headcount.”

SettleIT is a solution built by InfoTrack to replicate the traditional network of manual settlement agents. With one click, InfoTrack clients can book a SettleIT agent who will act under their instruction to manage the administration of an electronic settlement once the contract becomes unconditional. This includes acting as the client representative in the ELNO workspace and phone verifying all bank account details before transferring funds. Over 600 clients Australia-wide are already using SettleIT with over 4000 electronic transactions processed through the system over the past few months.

Emanuel Oros, Partner at Sparke Helmore Lawyers says, “we are at the start of a journey”. In his view, there will soon be more choice for lawyers and conveyancers who will be able to find many great ways to conduct settlements electronically.

Mr Ahern believes that “as new e-settlement providers enter the market; competition will drive greater value and more efficient processes. In the meantime, we recognise the need to take some of the burden away for our clients and SettleIT is a great option available now in NSW, VIC and QLD.”

To enquire about using SettleIT, please visit www.infotrack.com.au/settleit.