01Bonds
Three firms. One registration date. Nobody explains this.
A buyer assumes there is one attorney on a transfer. There are usually three, appointed by three different parties, and the deeds office will not register until all three are ready on the same morning.
02Who is on your file
Three firms, and you appoint one of them.
The transferring attorney
Appointed by the seller
Passes ownership from seller to buyer. Applies for the clearance certificates, pays the transfer duty, lodges the batch.
That is us, on this file.
The bond attorney
Appointed by the buyer's bank
Registers the new bond over the property for the bank that granted it. You do not choose this firm and you cannot change it.
The bank picks from its own panel.
The cancellation attorney
Appointed by the seller's bank
Cancels the seller's existing bond on registration day, once the price has settled what is owed.
Again, the bank picks.
03Registering a new bond
Five steps you do not control.
We chase the bond attorney weekly and tell you what they said. It is not our file, but it is your transfer.
Your bond is granted
Your bankThe grant letter has conditions in it. Read them. A condition you have not met is a lodgement you cannot make.
The bank instructs its attorney
Your bankThis can take a fortnight on its own, and it happens entirely between your bank and a firm you have never spoken to.
You sign the bond documents
YouA second appointment at a second firm. Bring the same FICA documents again; they may not use ours.
The bond attorney reports to the bank
Their attorneyThe bank releases the funds to be paid on registration, not before.
Lodged with the transfer
All threeSame day, same batch. If the bond is not ready, the transfer waits.
04Cancelling the old one
The ninety days start when you give notice, not when you sell.
Ninety days’ notice
Most bond agreements require ninety days’ notice of cancellation. Give it the day you accept an offer. Without it the bank may charge a penalty equal to the interest it would have earned.
Cancellation figures
We call these up from the seller’s bank as soon as we are instructed. They are valid for a limited period and have to be refreshed if the transfer runs long.
The shortfall
If the price does not cover what is owed, the difference has to be paid in before registration. Better to know that in week one than in week nine.
Access bonds
Money drawn from an access facility after the figures are issued increases the settlement amount. Stop drawing once the property is sold.
05Where a bond is granted
Accepted an offer this week? Give your bank notice today.
It costs nothing, it can be withdrawn, and it is the one thing a seller can do on day one that saves real money at the end.