Caution required using bulk lodgment of dealings at Land and Property Information

A recent judgment of the Supreme Court of New South Wales has highlighted an issue for any party seeking to register dealings using the Bulk Lodgment System at Land and Property Information (LPI).

In Barlin Investments Pty Ltd v Westpac Banking Corporation Limited [2012], the Court considered the question of when lodgment of a dealing, memorandum or caveat is complete. At issue were the two systems by which the LPI accepts documents for registration:

• Bulk Lodgment System – this is where batches of documents are lodged with LPI in bulk by frequent users. Although the cheques presented with the documents are processed at the time the documents are received by the LPI, the documents themselves are not allocated a distinct reference number until they are processed, usually within 24 hours of delivery at the counter, at which time they are entered on to the Integrated Tiling System on which the Torrens Register is based.