LINZ News

News

New Landonline website sections for e-dealing, e-survey and e-search...

Earlier this week, the new e-survey and e-search sections were launched, reflecting the following changes to improve customers' online experience:

• All information has been reviewed, updated and re-ordered to make it easier for customers to navigate to key topics and frequently-referred-to pages
• Page layouts have been re-designed to give a cleaner, clearer look and feel and icons added per section
• Three handy 'buttons' (Update Firm/User Details, Technical Resources and This Month in Landwrap) have been added to all pages to help users link to this information more easily.

e-dealing users will have noticed the e-dealing website section underwent a transformation a few weeks ago.

e-dealing

e-survey

e-search

Over the next few weeks, we will continue updating the site and provide another update about what has changed in September's Landwrap.

Reminder – exemption requests for lodging CSDs through e-survey from 1 September 2007

Surveyors please note that it is necessary to apply in writing for an exemption to allow a CSD to be lodged by alternative electronic means outside of Landonline from 1 September.

A request will only be considered in circumstances where there are factors outside the control of the surveyor or their client. This will cover extreme situations where it is impracticable to lodge the CSD as an e-survey.

Please address any exemption requests to the National Processing Centre Manager, email info@linz.govt.nz.

Special Landwrap supplement for surveyors

A special Landwrap supplement will be published on 3 September to commemorate the 1 September mandatory date for surveyors. The supplement will contain a range of articles covering Landonline and the e-survey journey from the LINZ and the survey community's perspectives.

We will send surveyors an email on 3 September with a link to the supplement.

Landonline

Landonline Release 2.10 update

The journey to 100% e-lodgement continues with Release 2.10, scheduled for October 2007, containing a number of enhancements as advised in the July issue of Landwrap.

For e-survey customers, Release 2.10 primarily focusses on process improvements. In particular, reducing the manual aspects of processing and improving general performance. More about Release 2.10 for surveyors.

For conveyancers, the layout of some e-dealing screens will change in preparation for the introduction of more new e-dealing instruments in later releases. There will be functionality changes to 'certify and sign' providing the ability to sign multiple instruments in an e-dealing. 'A&I Form' screens will be added to e-dealing and a range of new discharge instruments will be made available. More about Release 2.10 for conveyancers.

LINZ will confirm in September the final roll-out date for Release 2.10.

Changes to signing software as part of Release 2.10

The functionality for conveyancers to certify and sign multiple instruments in a single dealing will require all signing customers ( i.e. e-dealing and e-certification customers) and all submitting surveyors to upgrade the existing version of Digisign – Landonline's signing software.

This upgrade can only be undertaken once Release 2.10 has been implemented.

At the beginning of September, all signing customers and submitting surveyors will receive an email providing further information about the changes and what they will need to do.

Introduction of complex passwords

Release 2.10 will introduce the compulsory use of complex passwords for new customers, which will then become compulsory for all customers in Release 3.0. Complex passwords are part of Landonline's security. The July 2006 issue of Landwrap provided an article highlighting how to create complex passwords and the importance of them. We recommend that customers begin to use this practice now so that there is minimal change when it becomes compulsory for all customers in Release 3.0 scheduled in early 2008.

Landonline Release 2.10 update for surveyors

Landonline Release 2.10 update for conveyancers

Fees Report versus invoice – what's the difference?

Many Landonline customers have asked why their fees report and invoice often differ. To help answer this question, we take a look at how they work.

The Fees Report is generated from within Landonline via the searches screen. It can be generated by a user, firm, date range, client reference or ID, and provides an indication of the fees. The Fees Report covers both electronic and manual lodgement transactions and includes details of fees incurred against a firm regardless of whether payment for a transaction (e.g. dealing, survey) has been made or is being charged to the lodging user or firm.

The Fees Report displays a fees status for each fee item as listed below:

Draft	Draft fee item (this currently only applies to dealings).
Final	The fee item has been sent to be billed (on an invoice) or is in the process of being sent to billing.
Cancelled - withdrawn	The fee item has been cancelled as the dealing has been withdrawn. These items will not display on the invoice.

The Fees Report is designed to tell you what fees you will be charged (i.e. having a final status) or have incurred to date (i.e. having a draft status). It is only intended to be an indication of fees as at the time requested, and includes the date the fee was recorded for a transaction or incurred as a result of a search.

Electronic transactions are calculated automatically. Manual lodgement transaction fees, however, are estimated within Landonline and require examination by a Property Rights Analyst to confirm the final fee. The estimated fee will appear with a draft status and is subject to change until the latter process is completed. At this stage the status is changed to final.

'Final' fees are then transferred to an invoice to be billed. This process is given an invoice date reflecting the invoice period the transaction is being applied to.

Invoices are generated on a fortnightly basis. The invoice date is used to generate the information that will apply for a given invoicing period. Therefore if the fee does not have an invoice date that falls within the invoice period being processed, the fee will not appear on the invoice.

The invoice is the document that reflects the actual charges from LINZ.

Why am I being 'disconnected' from Landonline?

Customers sometimes experience a disconnection from their Landonline session. Generally, there are three main types of disconnections or dropped connections:

1. Timeouts
2. Network disconnections
3. Crashes

These all result in you being disconnected from Landonline and can seem similar. However, each has a different cause and solution. The following examines each in turn and highlights what you can do.

It is important that customers report their dropped connection experiences to Customer Support on 0800 ONLINE (0800 665 463). This information will help LINZ to isolate and identify dropped connection issues.

1. Timeouts

A timeout occurs when your Landonline session has been idle (i.e. there have been no keystrokes or mouse movements) for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, a pop-up box appears that tells you about the impending timeout (see below). If your Landonline session remains idle for a further two minutes, you will be logged off automatically.

Timeouts are a part of Landonline's design. To avoid being logged off, simply remain active within your Landonline session.

2. Network disconnections

A network disconnection occurs when the connection between your PC and Landonline is interrupted. This can have numerous causes. We recommend you ask your IT service provider to run network diagnostics to discover the location of connection problems.

When a network disconnection occurs, your Landonline session closes and you receive an error message similar to one of the following:

• "The network connection to your application was interrupted. Try to access your application later, or contact technical support."
• "Metaframe connection server interrupted – attempting to reconnect."

The cause of the disconnection may be located anywhere along the chain of connections between your PC and Landonline. This includes connections from your PC, to your modem or router, to your internet service provider (ISP), to the internet, to Landonline's ISP, and finally to Landonline. Given this, the first step to solving the problem is to find out where the network interruption is occurring.

One diagnostic you can discuss with your IT service provider is called pathping. Having your IT service provider run a pathping diagnostic to logon.landonline.govt.nz can tell them about any network problems at each link in the chain between your PC and Landonline's firewall (and how many links there are in that chain). Your IT service provider may wish to read Microsoft's information about pathping and consider using it or other diagnostics to investigate the source of the problem.

One Landonline customer in Central Otago recently used pathping to help reduce the frequency of their network disconnections from Landonline. The pathping diagnostic revealed that network interruptions were occurring between their router and their ISP. Their ISP responded by carrying out work to reduce the network interruptions, consequently reducing the frequency of disconnections from Landonline.

3. Crashes

A crash is a failure within Landonline itself. There are two types: database crashes and application crashes. If a database crash happens while you are using Landonline, a pop-up message will warn you about the crash and provide you with further instructions. If an application crash occurs, you will receive an unusual Landonline error message while you are working within your session. An example is shown below.

If you receive an application crash error message, please take a screenshot showing the error (push the 'PrtScn' key and paste into an application like Microsoft Word). Note the exact error message, the error code, its subcode, the Landonline module number (found in the title bar), and then call Customer Support. This will help LINZ to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.

Summary

There are three main types of dropped Landonline connections, each with a different cause and solution:

• Timeouts are by design, and occur when your Landonline session has been idle for 15 minutes. To avoid them, stay active within your session by mouse or keyboard activity within the Landonline application.
• Network disconnections are accompanied by a network disconnection error message. They occur when the connection between your PC and Landonline is interrupted. Your IT service provider may be able to isolate the cause of the network disconnection. One diagnostic tool to assist them with this is pathping.
• Crashes usually result in unusual error messages. They are caused by a failure within Landonline itself. All application crashes should be reported to LINZ with the required information.

Information required for Customer Support

When reporting application crashes and network disconnections, please provide the following information to Customer Support if you can:

• When the problem occurred
• What you were not able to do satisfactorily
• The transaction ID or Landonline number
• Whether this has happened before
• How long you have been experiencing this for
• Any error messages
• A screenshot showing the error message, or, if not,
• The exact error message (including code and subcode)
• The module number (see the title bar)

Regulatory

Changes to Land Transfer regulations for Release 2.10

Landonline Release 2.10 will allow for a wider range of discharges to be prepared in Landonline using e-dealing than the present range advised in the February 2006 edition of Landwrap.

Work is underway to provide the necessary authority by Land Transfer regulations for these discharges in time for Release 2.10.

More detail on the regulations will be published in the September issue of Landwrap.

e-survey

e-survey related activities – update

As advised in previous issues of Landwrap, LINZ is focussing on several key e-survey areas to help improve the Landonline experience for surveyors. These activities are now at the stage where they can be reported on.

Detailed updates on some of the work currently being undertaken are covered in this issue of Landwrap, namely the following key activities:

• Plan generation consultation – Consultation with stakeholders on the options to improve the quality of output from plan generation begins on 30 August and will run for four weeks. All surveyors will have the opportunity to participate.
• Pre-validation – Accuracy Rule Tests Report (pdf 652KB) – This is an indepth analysis that supplements the existing Pre-validation information on the website and provides surveyors with detailed information and examples of all the accuracy rule tests run during pre-validation. The report was reviewed by external surveyors. The document titled Landonline Pre-validation Report – an explanation (pdf 330KB) has also been updated.
• Refreshed e-survey section of the Landonline website – The e-survey section has been re-built with surveyors' needs in mind. A new Best Practice section makes it easier to navigate to a wide range of useful tips, hints and links to articles on e-survey and related topics. New information will be added as it comes to hand.
• Release 2.10 – detailed release information – Release 2.10 primarily focusses on process improvements for e-survey customers. In particular, reducing the manual aspects of processing and performance improvements.
• e-survey enhancement/prioritisation list – LINZ wants to make this list more accessible to surveyors. We will be working with stakeholder representatives during the development of the list and how to best communicate it to the survey community, given its complexity.
• e-survey performance focus – A joint Customer Services and IT team is focussing on specific e-survey performance opportunities. Several streams of work are underway to ensure Landonline connectivity and system performance are maximised. Some of this work has produced customer information outlined in the article What can I do if my session on Landonline seems slow? in the July Landwrap and Why am I being 'disconnected' from Landonline? in this issue of Landwrap.
• Exception process – This process is currently being examined to identify and address any issues and provide clarity for surveyors. How the Exception process works was outlined in the July issue of Landwrap.

Zeroing in on e-survey performance

In October 2006, LINZ's executive management team established the Performance Taskforce whose first priority (or phase one) was to improve Landonline performance and reduce the risk of slowness in future. The June 2007 issue of Landwrap gave an update on the progress the Performance Taskforce had made in improving the overall infrastructure performance of Landonline, which is largely now complete.

Landonline performance and stability remains LINZ's top priority. Our intention is to now zero in on specific e-survey performance opportunities. These opportunities will focus on aspects such as:

• Improving the existing application performance. This will include reviewing aspects of the e-survey code that indicate poor performance.
• Seeking and removing any infrastructure bottlenecks that are specific to e-survey through the deployment of additional tools to help isolate possible causes.
• Investigating connectivity performance and options to improve customers' internet experience.
• Reviewing a sample of customer computing environments and experience to better understand contributing factors such as work patterns, time of day usage, computer set ups. This may involve visits to selected surveyor sites by our IT specialists as well as customer trials of possible solutions.

LINZ will undertake this additional work over the next three to six months, in addition to the activity undertaken as part of the Release cycle. We will keep you informed of progress and findings via Landwrap.

Meanwhile, it is important that all customers contact Customer Support on 0800 ONLINE (0800 665 463) when they experience session performance issues. This will allow us to undertake important diagnostic work to better inform our investigations.

Plan generation - have your say

On 30 August, survey customers and stakeholders will be asked for their views on a range of options aimed at improving the creation of survey and title plans in Landonline.

Identifying your preferences, priorities and timeframes will help LINZ decide which areas to focus on first.

Consultation will be take place using the internet via links on the Landonline and LINZ websites. This will ensure the process of capturing responses is efficient and accurate.

Further details about the consultation and how to access it will be provided in an email to all surveying customers and stakeholders on 30 August when the consultation begins. Participants will have four weeks in which to respond.

New and revised reference information on Pre-validation

Surveyors have asked LINZ for more information to assist their understanding of pre-validation reports. In addition to wanting explanatory information on the Pre-validation report, surveyors have indicated the need for more in-depth information on what the pre-validation tests relate to, and what the Adjustment Report messages mean.

Updated version available: Landonline Pre-validation Report explanation

LINZ recently published a document titled 'Landonline Pre-validation Report – An Explanation' on the Landonline website that gives an overview and explanation of the pre-validation process.

The report provides a definition of pre-validation report item categories, explains the structure of the pre-validation report and describes the Y (Cadastral Survey Integrity) rules, C (Cadastral e-survey) rules, and P (Plan Layout) rules. It also provides rule descriptions along with an indication of message severity and the typical user intervention required to address any reported rule failures and conflicts.

A part of this document, relating to the Adjustment Report, has just been updated and it now is also cross referenced to a new, detailed reference document that focuses on the accuracy related business rule tests.

We recommend surveyors read the revised explanation and discard any earlier copies. We also recommend the updated report is read in conjunction with the more detailed Accuracy Rules Tests document (see next article).

Download and print the revised Pre-validation Report Explanation - (pdf 330KB)

New pre-validation reference document available: 'Accuracy Rules Tests run during pre-validation of CSDs'

LINZ has prepared a reference document that provides surveyors with information on the accuracy-related business rule tests that are run as part of the CSD pre-validation process.

This new reference document is an in-depth analysis focusing on, and cross referenced to, information provided in the Adjustment Report section of the Pre-validation Report (see above article).

The new reference document includes details on the following topics:

• Survey accuracy and business rule tests for these rules:
  • C068 – Distance between witness and boundary marks
  • C182 – Internal consistency check
  • C184 – Full/Partial SDC check
  • C185 – Underlying survey check
• Adjustment errors and warnings
• Misclose, Proximity and Relative Accuracy tests
• Design vs implementation examples (Appendix A)
• Observation accuracy estimates for CSDs (Appendix B).

Special note: A number of survey firms assisted with the peer review of the Accuracy Rules Tests document and LINZ would like to thank them for taking the time to do this and provide feedback.

Download and print the new Accuracy Rules Tests document - (pdf 652KB)

We recommend the Accuracy Rules Tests reference document be read in conjunction with the Pre-validation Report explanation (see above article).

New e-survey website section aims for a much improved experience

The e-survey section of the Landonline website has had more than just a cosmetic makeover… as part of the review process, we went back to the drawing board, looked long and hard at the types of information surveyors really go looking for and re-built the section completely.

To the right of the e-survey home page, we've added a 'What's new' panel, 'buttons' and Quicklinks to help surveyors get to topical and frequently referred to web pages quickly.

Five key information groupings...

In the main part of the home page, you'll see five headings below the link to the e-survey web forum:

• e-survey Best Practice
• e-survey Training Resources
• Getting Started
• Other Information, and
• Regulatory Information

New best practice section – a key information source for surveyors...

LINZ has published a wealth of information and updates over time to help surveyors make the most of Landonline.

As part of the website overhaul, we've reviewed the past few years of Landwrap articles, web pages, tips and hints and workarounds for currency and relevance. This information is often called on for reference but finding it has sometimes been a challenge.

The Best practice section aims to make it much easier to locate these topics on the website. It includes an improved Tips and hints full index spanning a wider range of topics likely to be of interest to surveyors. These are being added to each month, and have been ordered alphabetically to form a full index to make them easy to scan through.

Plus, we've created three new indexes with flagged items to indicate their usefulness to (variously) new, experienced and advanced users of e-survey. These will also be added to on a regular basis:

• e-survey technical best practice – information to help users make the most of e-survey's functionality
• Survey integration best practice – topics focussed on how to best get the various survey types into e-survey
• Surveying information – general surveying and related topics that users need to stay aware of, such as survey rules updates, rulings etc.

Best practice is also where you'll find Survey plan examples, Land XML information and reference documents and Pre-validation information including the new Accuracy Rules Tests document - (pdf 652KB).

Training resources

The e-survey training resources section has all the links and background on training materials provided by LINZ such as the User Guide, computer based training (CBT) DVD and the support available to surveyors.

Getting started

When staff want to start using e-survey, encourage them to use the Getting started section on the website – it steps through the e-survey process and cross-references the variety of useful information that will help them become familiar with e-survey. You'll also find business implementation tips here.

Other information

In this section, you'll see an updated list of e-survey bureau service providers, including those offering e-survey training, along with links to pricing (fees and charges) information and fees reports in Landonline.

Regulatory information

Links to standards, rules, guidelines and key survey system publications are to be found in this section.

NZIS branch meetings – wrap up

LINZ representatives have travelled around the country during the past four months attending seventeen New Zealand Institute of Surveyors' (NZIS) branch meetings from Whangarei to Invercargill.

More than 400 surveyors participated in the meetings and took the opportunity to have open discussion with LINZ on a wide variety of topics.

LINZ thanks the NZIS branches for organising the meetings throughout the country and all the surveyors who attended. We appreciated the opportunity to talk with you and hear your views, suggestions for improvement and answer any questions that you had.

Here are some of the key topics discussed.

Plan generation

Surveyor:
Is Offline Plan Generation being considered by LINZ?

LINZ:
LINZ is looking into various options to improve the creation and editing of survey and title plans in Landonline and a consultation document has been prepared. Consultation on the options is scheduled to begin on 30 August and will run to the end of September. Consultation will be conducted online via links on the Landonline and LINZ websites to make it a more efficient and accurate process. All surveyors will have the opportunity to participate.

Pre-validation

Surveyor:
Can the pre-validation report be simplified, shortened and with more clarity around the rules?

LINZ:
LINZ has developed an in-depth analysis on the accuracy-related business rules tests - (pdf 652KB) run as part of the pre-validation. This has been reviewed by external surveyors and is now available on the Landonline website. This supplements the existing pre-validation information and provides surveyors with details and examples of all the accuracy rule tests run during pre-validation. The existing pre-validation report - (pdf 330KB) on Landonline has been reviewed and re-published. These documents should be read together.

LINZ retaining survey knowledge

Surveyor:
We are concerned about LINZ losing experienced survey staff who can provide us with survey advice now and in the future.

LINZ:
LINZ is not intending to make changes to the survey support model currently in place, particularly as surveyors transition to 100% e-lodgement.

TA uptake of TA e-certification

Surveyor:
What activity is being done to encourage uptake by TAs around the country?

LINZ:
We have made major gains in getting TAs booking their training over the last two months. As a result, the major TAs, accounting for approximately 78% of New Zealand's survey certifications, are licensed and are now either using e-certification or have booked in for training. There is a gap between TAs that have been trained and their usage of e-certification, therefore it is important surveyors continue to encourage TAs to actively carry out e-certifications. LINZ has no regulatory authority to ensure TAs use e-certification so we rely on both TA interest and surveyors' encouragement of TAs in this area.

Requisitions and resubmission fee

Surveyor:
We have concerns about requisitions both from the re-submission fee aspect and from the consistency of requisitioning by LINZ's processing centres. What if we don't agree with a requisition?

LINZ:
Re-submission fee: Survey regulations require LINZ to set a re-submission fee. This fee has been waived since 2004 to encourage uptake of e-survey. We understand there's a learning journey as 100% e-lodgement approaches and have therefore extended the survey re-submission fee waiver until 31 March 2008 to support surveyors as they become familiar with e-survey and implement new business processes.

Consistency of requisitions: Regardless of where a survey is processed, it should be dealt with in the same way. Processing centres have introduced steps to ensure a consistent approach including, for a limited period, having all requisitions peer reviewed prior to issuing.

Number of requisitions: LINZ's policy is to requisition material items only and we are continually improving processes to stop any requisitions that do not relate to material errors or omissions. It's very important for surveyors to use the Request Review process for querying a requisition. This process assists LINZ to keep refining its process and to ensure consistency. We are currently looking at ways to help surveyors achieve first time compliance and have published new reference material on the pre-validation report on the Landonline website (see pre-validation item above).

e-survey enhancements/prioritisation

Surveyor:
The Landonline enhancement list needs to have transparency around the process of prioritisation.

LINZ:
The enhancement list includes customer suggestions gathered through a variety of channels. Prioritisation of the list involves both LINZ staff and stakeholder representatives. We intend to make the development priorities more accessible to customers and will liaise with stakeholder representatives to improve communications in this area. LINZ also recommends that suggestions for improvement are discussed at NZIS branch meetings. Suggestions on improvements for Landonline can be sent to LINZ by a letter from your branch, an email to info@linz.govt.nz, calling Customer Support (0800 665 463), or via the e-survey web forum.

Data integrity – quality of underlying data particularly in non SDC areas

Surveyor:
We are concerned that Landonline requires minimal survey data entry. Our profession requires us to leave a legacy of quality survey information for the future. Non SDC areas cause difficulties in rural areas due to the longer timeframes required for inputting into Landonline and associated costs.

LINZ:
LINZ acknowledges that surveys in non SDC areas are typically more difficult to integrate into Landonline, particularly where natural boundaries are involved, where there may be errors in the underlying topology, or the job is larger than usual. LINZ is aware that underlying data may cause issues and recommend you contact Customer Support on 0800 ONLINE (0800 665 463) as early as possible so that underlying data issues can be addressed earlier in the process rather than waiting until submitting your plan.

Exception process

Surveyor:
We don't fully understand how this process works.

LINZ:
The Exception process is a specific Landonline process that can be initiated by a surveyor when a fatal error prevents e-lodgement. See the article Exception process for e-survey in the July 2007 edition of Landwrap for information on how the process works.

We are currently looking at how we can improve this process and provide better clarity for surveyors. Any resulting recommendations will be sent to the NZIS and ICS for consultation.

Easements

Surveyor:
We are unhappy about the removal of the easement fee waiver, particularly so close to the 100% e-lodgement date. It's time consuming entering all the necessary data for easements into e-survey, particularly long, thin or overlapping easements.

LINZ:
Easement fees: LINZ has historically not charged a fee for existing easements, even though checks are performed on them. To bring this into line with LINZ's policy of recovering all costs relating to the delivery of a service, it is appropriate to charge customers a fee for both new and existing easements. As much work is done by LINZ staff to process existing easements on a plan as for any new easements. For more information on easement fees, see the article on new fees and charges in the July Landwrap.

Capture of easements: A project is underway to look at how easements are being captured. LINZ will be discussing options with surveyors on alternatives.

Landonline – connectivity, system performance and capability

Surveyor:
We want assurance that Landonline will cope with 100% e-lodgement.

LINZ:
Day-to-day work on the architecture of the Landonline system focuses on the currency of software and hardware. In reviewing all the core infrastructure components of Landonline, we are confident we have the ability to cope with 100% e-lodgement. Ongoing e-survey performance remains our number one priority - refer to the article Zeroing in on e-survey performance in this issue of Landwrap for what we are doing in this area.

A long term Landonline sustainability project is reviewing the capability of Landonline 5-10 years out. This project takes into account the changes in technology.

0800 e-survey customer support

Surveyor:
Why are some 0800 calls not responded to immediately?

LINZ:
Across the whole day, we consistently exceed a service level of answering 80% of all calls within 20 seconds. This standard is better than the industry norm. Some periods during the day are busier than others, however, and that is when wait times occur. LINZ has completed training four more Customer Support staff to take 0800 calls on e-survey, increasing our capacity to twelve.

Escalation process: Technology and Landonline application user support queries are resolved by the e-survey support team. To ensure callers receive the appropriate assistance, the more complex queries are logged and assigned to a Business Analyst, and complex survey and 'how to' queries are logged and assigned to a Help Desk Technical Advisor. Understandably, responding to assigned calls take a little longer.

Hours of Landonline availability

Surveyor: Will the hours of Landonline be extended?

LINZ: LINZ has no plans to change the current hours. However, your feedback is welcome via info@linz.govt.nz or the e-survey web forum.

e-dealing

Preparing for Release 2.10

Good preparation is the key to success – proved by the passing of the e-dealing 1 May and 1 August mandatory dates without incident.

Sharon Cottrell, General Manager of Customer Services is pleased with the smooth transition as the dates came and went. "The work firms have put in during the lead up to the mandatory dates has been fantastic and that was evident in the ease with which both dates passed," she says.

"The journey to 100% e-lodgement is well underway but far from over. We have another four releases planned that will enable conveyancers to perform increasingly more of their work in Landonline."

Release 2.10, to be implemented in early October, introduces...

• a further 17 Discharges
• the adding of the A&I form and pre-populated information from the information you enter in your e-dealing
• the ability to sign multiple instruments within an e-dealing.

To prepare conveyancers for Release 2.10, LINZ e-dealing trainers will be travelling the country outlining how these changes will benefit firms. These sessions are targeted at conveyancers with certify and sign rights and the e-dealing champion within each firm.

All attendees will have received an email inviting them to one of these sessions. "It is important that e-dealing customers let us know if they can attend and what their preferred venue and time is. We want to ensure that people are well informed prior to the release."

Most conveyancers have the choice of attending either an early session in a main centre or waiting to go to a local venue at a later date.

Sharon says, "Firms need to get prepared and stay up to date as we roll out each release. LINZ can not continue to train every person face to face as we have done in the past so attending presentations such as the ones for Release 2.10 commencing on September 3 will be a key part of LINZ's ongoing support to firms. I also want to thank those firms who have agreed to host presentation sessions on their premises."

A wide range of other support material will be available for customers once the release is available. LINZ has worked hard to update these materials and has received lots of good feedback from customers consulted.

To attend a 2.10 presentation session, please contact LINZ on linzcomms@linz.govt.nz, or for other e-dealing support material go to e-dealing Training Resources section on the Landonline website.

Pilot results for e-dealing Audit Methodology

Late last year, LINZ announced it was about to launch a pilot with law firms to test the possibility of introducing a risk, system, and controls-based audit methodology for e-dealing.

The decision to pilot the proposed audit model was made after a review of existing audit methodologies. A risk, system and controls-based approach was seen as having advantages for both LINZ and law firms. It allows firms with robust systems and controls for e-dealing to have these matters assessed and recognised for regulatory assurance purposes. This, in turn, should result in lower levels of transactional sampling via the compliance review process for participating firms with strong controls.

To test the proposed methodology, four law firms were visited during the pilot to assess the effectiveness of their e-dealing systems and controls. The pilot looked at the use of various measures including checklists, templates, peer review, file reviews and external reviews. Read the summarised report - (pdf 123KB) outlining the results from the recent e-dealing audit methodology pilot.

The Registrar-General of Land, Robbie Muir, said the results of the pilot indicate that the concept of a system, risk and controls-based audit approach is feasible and could be phased-in with law firms on a voluntary basis over a period of time.

Chris Moore, Chair of the Property Law Section, said the Section has also considered the pilot report and acknowledges the benefit to the profession of the proposed new e-dealing audit methodology. The Property Law Section supports LINZ's intention to introduce the new audit approach during the next year.

LINZ has developed a timeframe for implementation in consultation with the NZ Law Society Land Titles Committee, and is preparing to phase-in the proposed audit methodology. Details are being finalised and will be communicated soon.

Conveyancing professionals will have the opportunity to comment on the proposed audit methodology and implementation timeframes. Further information about these matters will be published on the LINZ website and advised via future issues of Landwrap.

Note: The compliance review process will continue in tandem with the new audit approach.

e-dealing watch points for practitioners

Conveyancing firms are making great use of e-dealing and, on the whole, transactions are being completed without a hitch. Now and then, however, issues arise that practitioners need to look out for.

You will find an index of these and other links to other e-dealing related articles in the FAQs and General information section of the Landonline website.

• Unregistered (escrow) mortgages
• Unauthorised discharges
• Discharging sub-mortgages

Unregistered (escrow) mortgages

Historically, there has been a practice to hold mortgages or transfers unregistered to protect family advances and other off-the-register arrangements. Often those documents would remain in Deeds for years and may never need to be registered. The need for such arrangements will not change in the future, just the means of registration of those documents.

Historical escrow mortgages and transfers

All mortgages and transfers from 1 August 2007 need to be registered via e-dealing. There is an exception process that allows for lodgement by paper where the mortgage or transfer pre-dates the mandatory date of 1 August. That requires an accompanying letter of explanation as to why an exception is being sought.

New escrow mortgages

Since the inception of e-dealing, the key difference for an e-dealing mortgage is the need to have authority from both mortgagor and mortgagee. If the mortgagee is a bank or 'institutional chargeholder', a letter of instruction is sufficient. Most 'off the register' mortgages will be between private individuals. Accordingly, there will need to be a separate A&I for the mortgagee and mortgagor. Certifications are made by the lawyer for both mortgagee and mortgagor.

The mortgagee will obviously want to be in effective control of registering the mortgage without the need for recourse to the mortgagor. In order to achieve that, the A&I from the mortgagor needs to be addressed to the mortgagee's law firm. The mortgagor can (and should) still be independently advised by having the A&I witnessed by the lawyer (or other suitably appropriate party) for the mortgagor. The only difference being that the A&I is addressed to the mortgagee's lawyer's firm.

Both essential components are then held by the mortgagee enabling creation, certifying, signing and submission of that mortgage by the mortgagee's lawyer, if required in the future.

While it is possible to adapt the e-dealing process with the use of A&I forms, that may not be ideal if there is a change of lawyers by the client or disbanding of the firm to whom the A&I is addressed. Any transactions created in workspace but not registered or worked on for a six-month period will be deleted after a reminder is sent to the parties.

Accordingly, having a certified and signed but unregistered mortgage in Landonline is not a practical solution.

Paper option

With the potential e-dealing issues outlined above, LINZ has decided that the best practical solution is to allow all escrow mortgages including those dated after 1 August 2007 (and any other registerable document that is to be held in escrow for a lengthy period) to be registerable as part of the paper exception process.

The following factors have been considered in making that decision:

1. Most escrow mortgages will never be registered
2. If registration is required it may be many years after execution
3. The client may change firms or the firm may no longer exist when registration is required. The A&I option could pose practical and possibly insurmountable problems if this occurs.
4. That the exception of escrow mortgages being in paper adopts a consistent approach with historical escrow mortgages.

LINZ will still require a letter at the time of registration explaining why an exception is sought. If there is a very short time period between the execution and submission date further questions will be asked.

It would be prudent for practitioners to file a statement of the reasons why registration is not to occur for at least six months (if at all) with the paper escrow document in Deeds so there is evidence readily to hand to support registration by the paper exception in the future.

Unauthorised discharges

Conveyancers certifying and signing discharges in e-dealing must hold authority from the mortgagee or other chargeholder.

Some financial institutions choose to authorise their own solicitors to register discharges of mortgages, rather than the landowner's solicitor who may be acting in a sale of the land. Examples we are aware of:

• Southern Cross Finance Limited
• Princeton Securities Limited
• Advanced Securities Ltd

In such cases, a conveyancer authorised by the financial institution will prepare and certify the discharge in e-dealing, and presumably liaise with the landowner's solicitor.

The landowner's solicitor must not certify and sign the discharge as they will not have the necessary authority.

Discharging sub-mortgages

It is not possible to use e-dealing to discharge sub-mortgages with current Landonline functionality, and it is not authorised by the Land Transfer Regulations 2002.

When a mortgage to be discharged is subject to a sub-mortgage, the conveyancer will need to present a registerable manual paper discharge of the sub-mortgage before submitting a discharge of the 'head' mortgage using e-dealing.

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