Protecting property transactions from fraud, hackers and scammers is essential to protecting client relationships and can be made easier with smart technology.
There are so many things to keep track of when buying off-the-plan and the checks and balances that need to be made.
A newer aspect that may sometimes be overlooked is cyber security. The Reserve Bank of Australia has said that there is a growing trend for criminals to go for smaller and less secure targets such as housing deposits. REINSW recently reported one incident where $757,000 was stolen from an agency trust account.
But, as well as conventional legal steps to carry out due diligence, there may be a solution offered by new smart technology, such as Securexchange services.
According to its website, “Securexchange is a secure website that protects property transactions from hackers by allowing property buyers, sellers, real estate agents and lawyers to communicate and confirm sensitive information such as documents and bank account details in a safe environment.”
Securexchange allows parties of real estate transactions to share account details securely and exclusively to an authorised network of verified users.
The InfoTrack feature guarantees up to A$500,000 per conveyancing transaction in circumstances where users have transferred funds to the trust account details entered in Securexchange and verified.
Fairtrading NSW advises, “When you buy off the plan, you are paying for a property where the end product may not only differ from your expectations, but be worth less than you have paid by the time it is finished.
If you are thinking of entering into a contract to buy premises not yet built, exercise caution and obtain appropriate legal and other advice before signing any documents or paying any money.”
With this in mind, clients need to do all they can to protect their income and deposit, and are expecting their cyber safety to be covered.
New legislation is being drafted in New South Wales that will better protect buyers on off-the-plan contracts. A new form of prescribed warning statement to reflect the extension of cooling off periods for off-the-plan contracts to 10 business days, is one measure being tabled.
Image credit: securexchange
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