VICTORIAN property lawyers are demanding an urgent overhaul of ANZ's mortgage procedures following the bank's recent move to outsource home loan settlement functions to Perpetual.
In a damning letter sent to the bank last month, the Law Institute of Victoria's acting president Caroline Counsel highlights deficiencies in ANZ mortgage processes which she claims have "substantially undermined" the certainty of property sales.
The bank has since apologised to the LIV.
In the February 4 letter leaked to BusinessDaily, Ms Counsel states that ANZ and Perpetual have committed only limited resources to booking property settlements which has led to confusion and frustration for conveyancing lawyers and their clients.
"Law Institute of Victoria members have reported that there have been instances when the Perpetual representative has not attended settlement at the allocated time," Ms Counsel told ANZ in the letter.
"Settlement in such cases has, of course, not occurred at the allocated time, and this has necessitated the inconvenience of re-booking settlement."
ANZ outsourced settlement responsibilities to Perpetual Mortgage Services last year as part of a wider effort to bring its mortgage administration and settlement systems in line with industry standards.
However, the move has been disastrous with communication problems between the bank and Perpetual leading to delays for home buyers and sellers completing transactions.
The institute's list of complaints include:
SALE failures caused by Perpetual not meeting settlement deadlines.
"UNDULY long" waiting times for lawyers seeking information over the phone from the bank and Perpetual.
FAILURE by Perpetual to provide details of payments due by property buyers within 48 hours of agreed settlement dates.
Ms Counsel told the bank that Perpetual's inability to provide payout numbers before settlement days meant that settlements had to be postponed in many cases because there was not enough time for cheques to be drawn by purchasers.
"When settlements fail as a result of ANZ's processes, there are additional financial and emotional burdens imposed on parties," Ms Counsel told the bank in the letter.
"The LIV urges ANZ to address settlement process issues, as they substantially undermine the certainty of transactions for parties."
In a replying letter sent on February 24, ANZ's head of mortgages, Michael Bock, acknowledged that the deficient settlement procedures had caused inconvenience for solicitors and parties involved in property transactions.
"It is clear from feedback from the profession that the changes we introduced to our settlements process have caused frustration and, in certain circumstances, significant inconvenience for some solicitors, conveyancers and clients - and we sincerely apologise," Mr Bock told the LIV.
"We are working hard to fix these problems ... We understand your concerns, and ANZ is committed to making the necessary changes to ensure we meet your needs and clients' expectations for timely and efficient settlement of all purchases and discharges."
Mr Bock stated that ANZ had established a special team of senior executives to drive improvements to the group's mortgage processes.
The urgent change program will try to simplify settlement procedures by increasing phone contact staff and investment in new technology.
LIV chief executive Michael Brett-Young said conveyancing solicitors also experienced settlement issues with other banks but the problems were more profound at ANZ.
"We've had more complaints from our conveyancing solicitors about ANZ and we are confident that the other banks are meeting requirements to achieve timely and smooth settlements for clients," he said yesterday.
A Perpetual spokesman declined to comment on the LIV's concerns about its performance under the outsourcing deal with ANZ.
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