Changes are happening to the conveyancing process. Please read this information together with the overview on the Reforms to Conveyancing Process webpage.
Compliance Examinations
The Land Titles Office has the power to conduct Compliance Examinations to ensure Subscribers – Representatives (legal practitioners and licensed conveyancers), financial institutions, and Self-represented parties have complied with all relevant requirements of the Recorder's Directions, Tasmanian Participation Rules and any other prescribed requirements of the Recorder of Titles, including Verification of Identity, Verification of Right to Deal, Client Authorisation, Certifications, and Retention of Evidence.
Compliance Examinations will be undertaken for both paper-based and electronic conveyancing processes as required by virtue of the Recorder’s Directions and Participation Rules, respectively.
Please note: any capitalised term has the meaning given to it in the Recorder’s Directions, the Participation Rules, the Operating Requirements, or the Electronic Conveyancing National Law (ECNL) as applicable.
Record of Compliance
When a Compliance Examination commences, as part of the initial notice to the Subscriber, a Record of Compliance will be attached. The Record of Compliance provides guidance about the supporting evidence required for the purposes of a Compliance Examination.
Subscribers may wish to utilise the Record of Compliance in the preparation of Registry Instruments and other Documents to assist in meeting some of the requirements contained in the Recorder’s Directions.
Record of Compliance (DOCX 66Kb)
(Note: The Record of Compliance is only required to be returned to the Land Titles Office in the event of a Compliance Examination, not upon lodgement of the Registry Instrument or other Document, and is to be submitted alongside the supporting evidence).
Frequently Asked Questions
The following FAQs do not constitute legal advice, nor does it replace prudent conveyancing practice. Nothing written below overrides the Recorder’s Directions, Participation Rules, any other relevant legislation, or Registrar’s Prescribed Requirements.
For this information and more, including a comprehensive list of Frequently Asked Questions, please see the ARNECC Guidance Note on Compliance Examinations.
What are Compliance Examinations?
In paper-based conveyancing:
The Recorder's Directions provide the Recorder of Titles with the power to undertake a Compliance Examination for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the Recorder’s Directions have been complied with, or investigating any suspected or alleged case of misconduct by a Subscriber.
In electronic conveyancing:
Section 33 of the Electronic Conveyancing National Law provides the Recorder of Titles (Registrar) in each Jurisdiction with the power to undertake a Compliance Examination for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the Participation Rules have been complied with, or investigating any suspected or alleged case of misconduct by a Subscriber (including a former Subscriber).
Under section 34 of the Electronic Conveyancing National Law, a Subscriber is obliged to cooperate fully in a Compliance Examination and comply with any reasonable requirement by the Person conducting the Compliance Examination.
The procedure for a Compliance Examination is set out in Schedule 4 of the Recorder’s Directions and Schedule 5 of the Participation Rules.
Why are Compliance Examinations necessary?
A key objective of the Subscriber compliance program is to assess compliance, and help ensure Subscribers are meeting their obligations and responsibilities under the Recorder’s Directions and Participation Rules, as well as to build trust and confidence in the conveyancing process.
When can Compliance Examinations be conducted?
Subscribers may be selected for a Compliance Examination at random or based on one or more factors including the following:
whether the Subscriber is newly registered
whether the Subscriber has been examined before
whether the Subscriber’s last or previous examinations were unsatisfactory or if there have been past instances of non-compliance
whether the Subscriber has been identified through a notification to the Registrar raising issue(s)
the Registrar identifying a problem with a transaction during the examination of a dealing
the volume, value or complexity of transactions the Subscriber is lodging
any potential threat to the operation, security, integrity or stability of the Register or of an Electonic Lodgment Network (electronic conveyancing)
How are Compliance Examinations conducted?
The procedure for a Compliance Examination is outlined for paper-based conveyancing in Schedule 4 of the Recorder’s Directions and for electronic conveyancing in Schedule 5 of the Participation Rules.
Is a Compliance Examination in relation to all parties to a conveyancing transaction?
Each Compliance Examination is in relation to a Subscriber's compliance with all relevant requirements relating to a single party to a conveyancing transaction, whether or not the Subs lodges the relevant Registry Instrument or Document.
It is possible that more than one Compliance Examination may be conducted in respect of the whole conveyancing transaction.