From 11 October 2021, Certificates of Title will be cancelled and cease to be legal documents. NSW will move to 100% e-conveyancing and paper dealings will no longer be accepted by NSW Land Registry Services.
What does this mean for property owners?
If you currently hold a Certificate of Title, after 11 October 2021, this document will be redundant. It will not be required for any transaction pertaining to the property. There is no action you need to take. You may decide to keep the Certificate of Title for sentimental value or destroy it.
The Office of the Registrar General recommends law firms holding Certificates of Title to contact clients prior to destroying them as they continue to be the client’s personal property. Certificate Authentication Codes will no longer have to be kept secured as they will cease to have any legal meaning. Certificates of Title do not need to be marked as “cancelled”.
If you currently do not hold a Certificate of Title, NSW Land Registry Services (LRS) will not issue Certificates of Title after 11 October 2021. LRS will issue an Information Notice upon registration of a dealing, such as a transfer or discharge of mortgage. The Information Notice will confirm registration of the dealing and specify the dealing type, dealing number, date of registration and subscriber reference. An Information Notice is not a title search and is not a statement of the Torrens Register.
How will we verify whether a person owns real property?
A title search of the property will establish ownership. The Torrens Register continues to be the single source of information pertaining to property ownership and interest in property.
Only subscribers to an Electronic Lodgment Network, such as the PEXA online platform, will be able to lodge land dealings for registration. Subscribers include lawyers, conveyancers and financial institutions. Subscribers must arrange for the verification of their client’s identity, obtain a signed client authorisation from the client and establish the right to deal. Subscribers must take reasonable steps to verify the right of their client as a transacting party to enter into a conveyancing transaction (see ARNECC Model Participation Rules Guidance Note #4).
No more paper dealings
LRS will not accept paper dealings from 11 October 2021. The waivers providing exceptions to mandated dealings under the Conveyancing Rules will end on the same date. Transactions which are out-of-scope due to technical reasons will be prepared as paper dealings and lodged electronically as a “Dealing with Exception”.
If you have any property or titling queries, contact our team on (02) 9307 8900 or at [email protected].
