Derrick Penner
Sun
Lawyers who use the electronic filing system of B.C.’s Land Title Office love the faster process, a fact the province hopes will convince paper-dependent offices to switch.
A Mustel Group poll of existing electronic filing system users, commissioned by the provincial Land Title and Survey Authority and technology firm MacDonald Detwiler and Associates, showed that 96 per cent of firms liked the speed of e-filing and 99 per cent would recommend it to other legal professionals.
However, Darcy Hammett, director of strategic operations for the Land Title and Survey Authority, said only about one-quarter of law firms and notary public offices use the electronic filing system.
“For the people who represent that [remaining] 75 per cent, this will give them a lot of comfort knowing the folks who use it find it easy to use and they wouldn’t go back,” Hammett said.
The electronic filing of land transactions, from change of ownership and registration of mortgages to the addition of rights of way, easements or covenants to property titles has been possible since April 2005.
Hammett said they can’t do all possible land transactions electronically yet, but the range of documents that can be e-filed covers basic needs for real estate transactions.
The advantage, he added, is that title changes can be made as quickly as documents can be filled out online, and lawyers or notaries don’t have to rely on couriers to make filing deadlines.
Hammett said the title and survey office will post the poll results on its website as a marketing tool to persuade non-users to give EFS a try.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
