Title Watch is one of those tools most purchasers have never heard of, and it’s one we like to tell every client about. It gives your conveyancer an early warning when something changes on the title of the property you’re buying, and the basic version costs nothing at all.
What is Title Watch?
Title Watch is an online subscription service from Land Services SA, which runs the South Australian land titles register and was formerly the Lands Titles Office. It monitors a certificate of title and sends an email alert when activity is recorded against it.
There are two versions. The free Title Watch is the basic one, and it tells you about any activity the following morning. The paid version, now called Property Watch, sends notifications in real time.
When an alert comes through, we look at what has been lodged or ordered and decide whether anything needs to happen. Most alerts are expected. The value is in catching the ones that aren’t.
What does Title Watch pick up?
Land Services SA sends a Title Watch alert when a document is lodged against the title, such as a transfer, mortgage, lease or caveat. You’ll also get one when a Priority Notice is lodged, which conveyancers use to hold a purchaser’s place while a sale is underway.
An alert also goes out when someone orders a Property Interest Report or Form 1 product for the property, which usually happens when it’s listed for sale. And if the title is cancelled, for example because the land has been subdivided and new titles issued, that triggers an alert too.
Ordinary title searches are not on the list, so Title Watch won’t tell you every time someone looks up a title.
Why do we use Property Watch on every purchase?
When we act for a vendor, we use the free Title Watch. We usually know what is happening with the property on a sale, so a next-morning update is enough.
When we act for a purchaser, we use the paid Property Watch, because timing matters right up to the moment of settlement. We learned that the hard way. A caveat was once lodged on a title 13 minutes before settlement and wasn’t picked up in time. Settlement went through and the funds were paid to the vendor, but the transfer couldn’t be registered until the caveat was dealt with. It is quite possibly the most stressful thing we have been through as conveyancers, and it’s the reason every purchase file now goes on Property Watch.
How does Title Watch protect my property purchase?
Between signing the contract and settlement, a lot can happen to a title that you would otherwise only find out about late in the piece. With Property Watch on your purchase, we see it as it happens.
If the vendor refinances and changes banks, a new mortgage gets lodged and we know about it straight away. That gives us time to make sure the right discharge will be ready, so it doesn’t hold up your settlement date. If someone lodges a caveat over the property, we know about it straight away, right up to settlement day itself.
Title Watch is especially useful if you’re buying a block in a land division that hasn’t yet been titled. Our check search notifies us when the application to deposit the plan of division (Form RTU or RTC) is lodged, which is the step that finalises the division and issues the new titles. That means we aren’t relying on the vendor’s conveyancer to tell us the division is complete. It’s one more way we head off settlement problems and delays.
What does Title Watch cost?
The basic Title Watch is free. A subscription covers up to 20 titles and has to be renewed every 12 months, with a reminder sent four weeks before it runs out.
At Your Choice Conveyancing, we set this up for you. Purchase files go on Property Watch and sale files go on Title Watch. You don’t need to set anything up yourself.
Can I put Title Watch on my own home?
Yes. Property owners can subscribe to Title Watch themselves as a guest user on SAILIS, the Land Services SA online portal, under the Land search menu. You’ll need the property address or certificate of title reference and an email address.
Once you own the property, Title Watch is a simple way to know if anything is ever lodged against your title. It takes a few minutes to set up and the only upkeep is renewing it each year.
Want to know more?
If you’d like to hear more about Title Watch, contact us or call 08 8261 5092. You can also read the details on the Land Services SA Title Watch page and the Property Watch page.