Step 2 – Security Documents

Upon receipt of your instructions (usually in the form of a signed term sheet) we perform the preliminary searches needed to draft security documents. These are:

• Company Search of all corporate borrowers and guarantors
• ABN Lookup on all trusts
• Address Search of all security properties
• Title Search of all security properties
• Bankruptcy Search of all individuals (all loans if client has not provided)
• PEPs/ Sanctions / Adverse Media Search of all individuals
• PPSR Search of all companies and individuals (all loans unless we are instructed not register PPSR)
• Litigation Search of all companies and individuals (High Due Diligence loans only)
• Google Search of all companies, individuals and properties
• Solicitor Search of the borrower’s solicitor
• Land Tax search of all properties

These searches are reviewed against our due dilignce checklist and any red flags escalated to the Partner. These searches are later (after documents are issued) personally reviewed by the Partner and the Counter signing Partner however at this stage, to enable the documents to be issued quickly they are reviewed by by paralegal or Associate solcitors.

A credit report is located at the end of the ASIC Company Searches we perform. This report  shows any Court Actions, Payment Defaults, Tax Defaults, ASIC Published Notices, Mercantile Enquiries (i.e. searches by debt collection agencies) and Critical ASIC Documents (i.e. any documents lodged in relation to winding up, EXAD etc).

Using the information imported into our database from the searches and the loan parameters from the term sheet we then create documents using our document assembly platform. This platform has been custom developed to allow sophisticated documents to be issued at the click of a button. Any combination of borrowers, guarantors, states, independant solcitors are par for the course. The advantage of this is speed and accuracy. Mistakes in security documents are aggravating and reputationally harmful, our automated process eliminates most of the possibility for human error. It means the Partner only has to check the data input sheet against searches not review the documents. If the data is good the documents are good.

We next email the documents to you for approval. Some lenders waive this step because of their past experience with our accuracy.

Once approved we create a PEXA workspace.

Once the security documents are approved by the lender we issue via:

1. DocuSign (NSW, Vic, Qld)
2. Email in States that require wet ink (WA, SA, TAS).

When issuing via DocuSign we first email a watermarked copy for approval by the borrower’s solicitor and client. Once they confirm the documents are correct we send by Docusign.

The borrower must receive independent legal advice on the security documents and be witnessed executing them by the same solicitor who gave the advice. The solicitor has to perform verification of identity checks as prescribed by the applicable Torrens legislation.

If there is a potential conflict of interest between the borrower and the guarantor (which there will usually be, except in the case where the guarantor owns the borrower) then the guarantor will need to obtain independent legal advice from a different solicitor independent of the borrower.

Once the documents are executed by the borrower and guarantor they are returned to Bransgroves Lawyers we  perform due diligence to ensure that they were executed and witnessed in accordance with the requirements of the applicable Torrens Legislation.