Beware of Internet Only Conveyancing

When choosing a conveyancer over the internet it is important that you review their website and their qualifications and what professional bodies they belong to.  We had a case where a client chose someone from the internet who failed to ever contact them.  Settlement time passed and the client was not able to contact this conveyancer either via email or telephone.  They just never replied. 

The purchaser was served with a Notice of Rescission which incurred penalties for late settlement and legal costs and put him in danger of losing his deposit and the property.  His broker suggested he should find another conveyancer immediately.  Although settlement date had passed we were able to assist him to complete in the time frame of the Rescission Notice.

As it turned out the vendor’s bank could not settle on time so the purchaser’s penalties and legal costs were waived as we were in a position to proceed to settlement prior to the date of Rescission.

It is prudent to note from conveyancing websites if the conveyancer is a member of the Australian Conveyancing Association, a member or associate member of the Law Institute and/or Institute of Legal Executives.  All licenced conveyancers are answerable to the department of consumer affairs but if they are also members of one or all of the previous mentioned associations it is fairly safe to assume that you will experience a relative stress free transaction.