The essence of conveyancing is to ensure that transfer of the property
and payment to the Seller occur simultaneously. The skill is to balance
the web of conflicting interests.
The conveyancer may find himself co-ordinating as many as 12 parties,
all of whom have an interest in the single transaction; for instance
the Seller, the Purchaser, the Estate Agent, the existing bondholder,
the second existing bondholder, the new bondholder, the Town Council,
the Homeowners Association, the Town Planning Department, the Deeds
Office, the Surveyor General, the Mortgage Bond Originator et cetera.
For example, the interests of the Purchaser and the Seller can be diametrically
opposed to each other. The Purchaser requires the transfer to be accelerated
whilst the Seller would like it to be delayed because he does not want
to pay occupation rent. Similarly, Banks require bonds to be registered
as fast as possible and become annoyed when the Seller and Purchaser
have agreed to delay the transfer for six months. The bond registration
Attorney has a primary duty to look after the interests of the Bank
which may in some instances conflict with those of the Purchaser.
A good Conveyancer will complete the following steps :
1. Request Bond Cancellation Figures and Rates Assessment
The account number of the existing mortgage bond is required by the
Conveyancer as soon as possible before the bondholder will issue bond
cancellation figures and original Title Deed. Access bond facilities
are generally frozen the moment bond cancellation figures are requested.
2. Prepare transfer and bond documents for signature
Absolute accuracy is required and the Conveyancer's duty is to filter
out all the mistakes which may appear on the Offer to Purchase or the
mortgage loan application form. Inaccurate property descriptions invariably
cause delays. The Conveyancer is requested by the Bank to make sure
that its own document, FICA and suretyships are signed by the Purchaser.
3. Arrange signature of documents, collect costs and balance
of purchase price The Conveyancer will normally request the parties to sign before
guarantees are due and would expect the costs and the purchase price
to be fully secured by cash or by guarantees no later than the guarantee
date, stipulated in the Sale Agreement.
4. Send guarantees to Bank Cancellation Attorneys The existing bondholder will not agree to cancel the existing
bond if formal bank guarantees are not provided, securing payment of
the indebtness.
5. Arrange lodgement in the Deeds Office The transfer, the bond and the bond cancellation must all be
lodged together simultaneously. If any part of the batch is missing,
the whole transaction will be returned unregistered.
6. Check to see if there are any shortfalls The Conveyancer must ensure that the Seller, the existing bondholder,
the Town Council and the Estate Agent are in fact all paid upon registration
of transfer. The Seller and Agent are generally never paid before the
transfer is registered.
7. Wait for documents to come up on prep Normally the deeds are examined by the Deeds Office Officials
in approximately 10 work days from the date of lodgement. Generally
delays are caused before the deeds are lodged; typically these would
be the Purchaser delaying payment of the costs, a lost Title Deed, a
Clearance Certificate or one of the Banks involved in the transaction.
8. Register the transfer and distribute the proceeds The purchase price normally becomes available the day after
transfer. Only then can the funds be distributed to the Seller and Estate
Agent.
9. Draw statements of account Statement of account for both Purchaser and the Seller are
prepared.
10. Advise the Council of registration We advise the Council in writing of registration of transfer
as matter of course, but the Officials choose to rely on a schedule
of transactions which they receive direct from the Deeds Office before
they will reconcile the rates between the Seller and the new owner.