FAQs

A conveyancing firm is a conveyancing business providing conveyancing works with the meaning in the Conveyancers Act 2006 (Section 4) to their clients for a fee. In Victoria, a conveyancing business must be carried by a licensed conveyancer or a licensed entity (a company).

A licensed conveyancer is a qualified person under the Conveyancers Act 2006 to carry out conveyancing works for clients and authorised by the Business Licensing Victoria. To become a licensed conveyancer, a person must meet all the eligibility criteria in qualification, working experience and is not a disqualified person with the meaning in the Conveyancers Act 2006.

You can access to the Conveyancers public register on the Consumer Affair Victoria’s website: https://registers.consumer.vic.gov.au/cvsearch

PEXA is an electronic conveyancing platform providing digital settlements technology and services for all certified participants (Lawyers, Conveyancers, Mortgagees) to participate complete settlements of their clients' property transfers electronically in real time (eConveyancing). In Victoria, most property transactions must be conducted electronically since 2018. And PEXA is regulated by the Land Registry.

Stamp duty is the tax you have to pay the State Government when purchasing a property. In Victoria, you pay stamp duty to State Revenue Office

The registration fee is the fee to pay State Government to transfer the property to your name. It is also called the lodgement fee. In Victoria, you pay the registration fee to Land Registry Victoria.

Stamp duty and Registration fees must be paid at settlement, not after.

VOI is verification of identity. Each party of a property transaction must have their identity verified. VOI is a legal requirement by Land Registry and specified in the Model Participation Rules of the Australian Registrars' National Electronic Conveyancing Council  (ARNECC). Without your identity verified, your transaction can not be completed.

VOI is to prevent fraud and to protect an honest party in a transaction. The process of VOI includes providing your personal identification documents, attending your VOI meeting, having your photo taken, and signing the Client authorisation form. There are options of how to conduct your VOI, including VOI at Australia Post (VOI's Agent), via VOI service providers using current technology or by our office. At our office, we will carry out your VOI for free.

When you purchase a property, you might be too excited to get the Contract signed and forget about the real issues underlying the Contract and section 32. Hence you need a calm and professional expert to review the Contract and section 32 to see if there are any alerts in the transaction. Please contact us by calling 0412 770 215 or by email: info@hnconveyancing.com.au.

In Victoria, for most conveyancing transactions, you must pay stamp duty at settlement via the electronic settlement platform (PEXA).

If you are a first home buyer and buying a brand new home with the purchase price under the threshold ($750K), then you are. Please visit the SRO's website for more details: https://www.sro.vic.gov.au/first-home-owner/applying-first-home-owner-grant

FHOG is $10K for metropolitan and $20K for regional Victoria when you buy or build your first new home.

Generally, your banker or broker will apply for your FHOG when applying for your loan application. It would be best if you speak to them in this regard.

If the dutiable value of the property is:

· $600,000 or less to receive the first home buyer duty exemption,

· $600,001 to $750,000 to receive the first home buyer duty concession.

Please refer to the SRO's website for more details: https://www.sro.vic.gov.au/fhbduty

Joint Proprietary is a manner of holding where 2 or more parties hold the property, and if one party passes away, the share of the deceased person will belong to the survivor (remaining person).

Tenants-in-common is a manner of holding where two or more parties hold the property, and if one party passes away, the share of the deceased person will be decided according to that person's will (deceased estate) and by the executor of the deceased (in most cases).

Section 32 or Vendor statement is a statement of the vendor disclosing the property information and condition pursuant to Section 32, Sale of Land Act 1962 before entering into any sale contract with potential purchasers.

Without disclosing section 32 or failing to provide all required information in section 32 might result in the purchaser rescinding the Contract any time before settlement.

A finance clause is a precedent condition in the Contract of sale that allows the purchaser to seek finance while entering the Contract with the vendor. Details of the finance clause include the financial institute name, the loan amount and the due date.

If the purchaser can not obtain the finance by the due date or any other date agreed by the vendor, the purchaser might be able to rescind the Contract by giving written notice to the vendor, providing that the purchaser has complied with all the other terms of the Contract, especially not in default under the Contract.

If you want to know more details about how the finance clause works, please get in touch with our office.

Title insurance is the cover against loss incurred by title and property-related defects that you were unaware of at the time of the purchase (unknown risks). Title insurance payment is a one-off premium, but it covers the whole time of your ownership. The unknown risks are:

* Unapproved Building Work (illegal building work)

* Registration Gap

* Fraud, Forgery & Identity Theft

* Boundary & Survey

* Planning & Title Defects

There is no excess in the event of a claim. There are two insurers providing title insurance in Australia: Stewart Title (www.stewartau.com) and First Title (www.firsttitle.com.au).

Please contact our office via 0412770215 or info@hnconveyancing.com.au for more details.

A Caveat is an instrument lodged on the title by a caveator to claim a property interest. A  purchaser has a property interest as they have entered into a contract of sale with the vendor. The caveat would alert parties who want to deal with the title, such as a second mortgagee. The party would then have to notify you of the transaction and request you to remove the caveat before they can lodge the document.

The caveat will also protect you in case there is a registration gap that the Transfer lodgement has to be in the queue to be manually assessed by the Land Registrar (which could take up to 3-5 business days) even though the financial settlement has happened.

You should promptly seek an extension on finance and deposit money (if the deposit money is due on the same date) from the vendor. Otherwise, you are deemed to accept going ahead with the Contract on an unconditional basis, even though you have not got a loan.

Please contact HN Conveyancing Pty Ltd so that we can assist you.

Section 27 is a statement from the vendor providing the purchase to seek an early release of deposit money. Section 27 must enclose all particulars pursuant to section 27 Sale of Land Act 1962: details of mortgage  (if any), details of any caveat lodged on the title.

Section 27 must be served to the purchaser in writing. The purchaser has 28 days since serving to object to the request. If the purchaser does not object to the release and if there are no conditions in the contract ensuring the purchaser’s benefit which is yet to be satisfied by the purchasers, the vendor can access the money once 28 days have passed.

If the purchaser does not settle by the due date (settlement date or any date agreed by both parties) then the purchaser is in default. The vendor has rights to:

Charge the purchaser penalty interest per the Contract,

Serve a notice of default or notice of recission onto the purchaser.

If the purchaser still does not settle within 14 days after the notice of rescission is served, the vendor can rescind (end) the Contract, and forfeit the deposit monies. The vendor may, within 1 year of the contract ending, either retain the property and sue for damages for breach of Contract or resell the property and recover any deficiency in the price on the resale…

Other reasonable costs incurred to pay the vendor according to your Contract.

For contracts of sale or arrangements entered on and from 1 July 2022, the State Revenue Office will now impose a duty on penalty interest paid by a purchaser due to a late or delayed settlement if the penalty interest is more than $5K. Further details here: https://www.sro.vic.gov.au/duty-payable-late-settlement-and-default-interest

If you want to bring a settlement forward, you should seek the other party's consent in writing. The agreement by both parties to a new settlement date should be in writing and documented. A deed of variation is needed to effect the new settlement date. Please contact HN Conveyancing Pty Ltd for more details

A final inspection is an inspection allowed to the purchaser within 7 days preceding settlement. At the final inspection, the purchaser should check everything about the property,  including property conditions and appliances included in the sale.

The purpose of the final inspection is to determine if any damages to the property occurred since the day of signing the Contract, if everything is in working order and if items or goods included in the sale have not been removed from the property.

Per the Contract, as the vendor's warranties, they must remain the property in the same condition as on the day of sale, except for fair wear and tear.

Please contact HN Conveyancing Pty Ltd should you have any further questions in this regard.

You do not have to do anything on the settlement date. You should sit back,  relax, and wait for our office's call to inform you of the settlement completion so that you can collect the keys (as a purchaser).

We will inform relevant authorities for each transaction by sending a Notice of Acquisition to the local Council (in a purchase), A Notice of Disposition to the Water Authority (in a sale). If there is an Owners Corporation, we will inform them of the purchaser's name and address (both sale and purchase). It is your responsibility to inform all related bodies and authorities that might be relevant to you, such as AEC, Education organisations, ATO…

Your file will be kept in our secure storage for seven years once the transaction completes.

We will provide you with a final letter enclosing all copies of the transaction documents for your tax purpose via email after the transaction completes. Please contact HN Conveyancing Pty Ltd as soon as possible if you need anything before we archive your file. Otherwise, we will charge you a fee for the service.