Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts (1) Subject to
subsection (2), a licensee who holds a real estate settlement agent’s
licence and a current triennial certificate may arrange or effect a settlement
of any real estate transaction that is in respect of land under the
Transfer of Land Act 1893 or the Land Administration Act 1997 .
(2) Notwithstanding
any other provision of this section a licensee shall not arrange or effect a
settlement of any real estate transaction if the land the subject of that real
estate transaction —
(a) is
not a lot or lots within the meaning of the Planning and Development Act 2005
or the Community Titles Act 2018 or the Strata Titles Act 1985 ; or
(b) is
leasehold (other than land the subject of a strata lease as defined in the
Strata Titles Act 1985 section 3(1) or land under the
Land Administration Act 1997 ); or
(c) is
comprised in whole or in part of a business other than a business which is
wholly that of farming (whether or not the land is conveyed separately); or
(d)
comprises any mining tenement or mining licence.
(3) A licensee who
holds a current triennial certificate may act for either the vendor, the
purchaser, or the mortgagee, in a settlement referred to in subsection (1) but
may not act for more than one party to the real estate transaction in that
settlement unless each of the parties for whom he is to act, in writing
—
(a)
acknowledges that he is aware that the licensee proposes to so act; and
(b)
gives his prior consent to the licensee so acting.
(4) In arranging or
effecting a settlement referred to in subsection (1) a licensee may perform
the functions set forth in Schedule 2 clause 1(1) or (2A), but in performing
any or all of those functions a licensee shall not give or attempt to give
advice on a matter of law.
(5) Notwithstanding
the Legal Profession Uniform Law (WA) section 10, a licensee may draw or
prepare the documents set forth in clause 1(2) of Schedule 2.
(6) A licensee may
receive a mortgage or discharge of mortgage prepared by or on behalf of
another person and arrange for its execution and stamping, and arrange and
attend on settlement on behalf of that person and receive and disburse moneys
in respect thereof.
(7) In subsection (6)
—
discharge of mortgage includes a withdrawal of a
caveat which notifies or protects an unregistered, equitable, or statutory
mortgage or charge.
(8) For the purposes
of effecting a settlement referred to in subsection (1) that is being or is to
be completed (wholly or in part) electronically under the
Electronic Conveyancing Act 2014 —
(a) if a
licensee who is a natural person holds a real estate settlement agent’s
licence and a current triennial certificate and is a subscriber (as defined in
section 3(1) of that Act), that licensee may authorise any employee of the
licensee to digitally sign documents and provide certifications on that
licensee’s behalf; and
(b) if a
licensee that is a firm holds a real estate settlement agent’s licence
and a current triennial certificate and is a subscriber (as so defined), the
person in bona fide control of the business operated under the licence may
authorise any employee of the licensee to digitally sign documents and provide
certifications on that licensee’s behalf; and
(c) if a
licensee that is a body corporate holds a real estate settlement agent’s
licence and a current triennial certificate and is a subscriber (as so
defined), the person in bona fide control of the business operated under the
licence may authorise any employee of the licensee to digitally sign documents
and provide certifications on that licensee’s behalf; and
(d)
subject to any participation rules determined under section 23 of that Act, a
person authorised under paragraph (a) or (b) or (c) may digitally sign
documents and provide certifications in accordance with that authorisation.
(9) An authorisation
given under subsection (8)(a) or (b) or (c) to an employee of a licensee
—
(a)
unless sooner revoked, continues for as long as the person remains an employee
of the licensee; and
(b) may
be revoked by —
(i)
the licensee; or
(ii)
any person who, under subsection (8), is entitled to give
authorisations to employees of the licensee, whether or not the person who
originally gave the authorisation.
[Section 46 amended: No. 31 of 1997 s. 141; No. 65
of 2003 s. 66(3); No. 38 of 2005 s. 15; No. 21 of 2008 s. 704(3); No. 19 of
2010 s. 51; No. 2 of 2014 s. 57; No. 30 of 2018 s. 188; No. 32 of 2018 s. 248;
No. 9 of 2022 s. 424.]