Electric Shock

VICTORIANS who buy and sell property have no reason to celebrate last Friday's launch of the state's electronic conveyancing system. Its biggest impact has been an increase in the cost of paper-based conveyancing. And because the banks are not using the new system, most property transactions are still paper-based.

The Law Institute has complained about the price rise and so have the Master Builders. But the Government persists with portraying its new system as some sort of step forward.

The Government has not even been able to persuade the LIV to recommend that its members use the new system.

The problem keeping most solicitors out of the system is the belief that it might expose them to a degree of risk that is not present with paper-based transactions. Doubts have emerged about who would be liable if, for some reason, an electronic conveyancing transaction were affected by fraud.

And that is where Ellie Comerford might have a solution. Comerford runs a company called First Title that insures title to land. Up to a point, she agrees with the LIV. She says there is a risk of fraud in electronic conveyancing but she argues that the risk is no greater than the risk that already exists with paper-based transactions.

To prove her point, she says First Title has sold 200,000 land title insurance policies and has paid out on several claims.

In order to address the LIV's concerns, she says a neat solution would be to simply insure each transaction under the new electronic system.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Even if all Victoria's solicitors sign up with the new electronic system, it is going nowhere without the banks.

Chris Merritt | November 23, 2007 | The Australian