Working To Reduce Paper Work In Property Conveyancing

If you have been hiding under a piece of paper, then you may not know that the way in which the Titles Registry deals with paper certificates of title (aka paper CTs or Title Deeds) is changing(Property Conveyancing act).

A bill was passed in Parliament on 26 March 2019 amending the Land Title Act 1994 so that paper CTs will no longer have any legal effect. Accordingly, from 1st October 2019, a paper CT will become a piece of history with its only value being that of sentiment.

Once upon a time, every property in Queensland was issued with a paper certificate of title. The certificate was always required as evidence of your indefeasible title over your property. Consequently, lost or stolen certificates raised huge issues for a homeowner.

If you are part of the 11% of homeowners, who do hold a CT, as of 1st October 2019, the burden to protect this piece of paper will be for nothing.

It is not all bad news, just think; you will no longer have the pressure of storing this very important piece of paper to show your ownership. You will have no requirement to deliver this important piece of paper to Settlement should you sell in the future.

Gone are the days of stressing as you try to locate the certificate that has been a “safe place” for many years which you now cannot remember where that is. We can assure you (if you have not experienced this yourself) the process in relation to a lost CT includes jumping endless hurdles of advertising, declarations and of course, this all comes at a cost!

Instead, these will be converted to electronic Certificates of Title to follow the push towards Queensland becoming an electronic conveyancing act system.

Now, this may seem like a drastic change, but we do anticipate a few benefits. Most importantly, this electronic process will be cost-effective and save time for all parties. Should you still be worried, never fear, we have experienced legal practitioners who can give you advice on this matter to avoid any possible free legal advice issues in the Property Conveyancing.

Finally warning: from 1 October 2019, there will no longer be the option to lodge a Form 19 application for a certificate of title. Should you wish to have an item that is soon to be historic, please urgently contact our office on (07) 3236 0001 so that we can arrange a Certificate of Title for you. 

Article Source: Property Conveyancing