Settlement is due at the end of the month on a property I have sold. In providing my banking details to my solicitor, I asked if EFT was possible for the proceeds, rather than cheque. Solicitor advised they could do electronic settlement, but had to confirm with the purchasers solicitor. They advised they were "not able" to do it electronically. Since *my* solicitor is a small suburban practice (property specialisation) & *their* solicitor apparently has 400 staff and a property division, I was a bit surprised. In NSW, electronic settlement is compulsory from next 1 July. Why would a purchaser/solicitor not be able to use electronic settlement?
Because solicitors like the social aspect of settlement.....from tea and cake to Friday drinks to hook ups! pinkboy
EFT into a trust account, and electronic settlement are two different things. Does your conveyancer have a trust account?
Because the current electronic settlement system PEXA is terrible and way over priced. We do hundreds of settlements a month and have been registered with PEXA since before they turned it on. The concept is excellent, but PEXA is owned by the state governments and the banks. The only reason it has gone compulsory in NSW is because the state owns it. They need a competitor to come in with a better user interface and more realistic pricing. I could employ 8+ full time staff for what I would pay in PEXA fees
Yes they do have a Trust Account (at my bank/branch). They are actual solicitors/lawyers, not conveyancers . Maybe I have asked them the wrong question/s ... if settlement is done by cheque, does that get banked to my account; or to the Trust account & then paid to mine? In the fee agreement I've agreed to pay that solicitor from the proceeds, so would the purchaser be asked to provide a cheque for solicitor & balance to me? Do I have to wait for cheque clearance if it goes to the Trust account?
My firm is ready for pexa settlement but many suburban solicitors are hesitant to use it for various reasons. The take up of pexa will take few years.
Are there other fees besides the $110 pexa fee that gets passed on to the client? Compulsory next year in a few states, but judging by your comment I’m assuming this isnt the case for all states?
Oh wow! Your settlements are not like ours at all. We all meet in a large and boring room with a lot of small tables. The parties arrive, stand around a table, exchange papers, exchange cheques and leave. There is barely even chit chat. A standard settlement takes about 10 minutes. A complex one takes 15. That's Perth.
