Consumer advocacy campaign Keep Me Posted (KMP) has slammed a move by Australia’s big four banks to secretly destroy 1.6 million paper land titles in Victoria as part of their push to digital.
“This is another example where Australians are left in the dark and footing the bill for big business,” says Kellie Northwood, executive director, KMP.
“Where was the consultation before these critical documents were quietly destroyed and why is the consumer now expected to pay more? In Australia, 1.3 million households do not have internet access at home and more often these people are disadvantaged, elderly, or low income families. It’s the most vulnerable who carry the greater burden of the push to digital.”
The big four banks quietly destroyed all paper land titles they hold for 1.6 million Victorian mortgagees, forcing owners to use a bank-owned electronic transaction system for any future sales of the properties.
Property owners whose titles are held by major banks were not told that their title documents have been destroyed, according to a report in The Age.
The mass destruction of paper titles and their replacement with electronic certificates has been questioned by property lawyers who fear it will compromise security and effectively outsource the 150-year-old Torrens title system to private operators.
The replacement of paper land title certificates with electronic versions is part of a national push to digital on the PEXA system, according to a spokesman for Land Victoria. South Australia is considering similar plans.
PEXA is owned by state governments, the ANZ, CBA, NAB, Westpac, Macquarie Bank and private equity. PEXA chief Marcus Price told the newspaper that paper titles were cumbersome to use. "People keep losing them, including banks."