Digital real estate law firm Ownright has new funding, a new name and now plans to expand its platform which streamlines the closings of residential property transactions.

The Toronto-based firm, formerly known as Doormat, operates a system designed to make the complicated transaction process easier, faster and less expensive. It has just closed a $4.5-million funding round.

Over its digital platform, Ownright offers property closings on sales and purchases, mortgage refinancing and status certificate review. Its services are designed to simplify the obtuse steps of closing a purchase which its co-founder and CEO Robert Saunders experienced when he bought a home.

A former software engineer for Shopify, he conceived of Ownright due to inconveniences experienced while buying his Toronto condo. As a first-time homebuyer at the time, he said he drew a blank when his real estate agent asked for the name of his lawyer.

“I had no idea what a real estate lawyer did and I had no idea which lawyer to use,” he said in an interview with RENX Homes.

Communication with his lawyer was then done sluggishly, via email. The opaque pricing and dense legal questions confused him. Then he had to visit the law office physically to sign documents and pick up the keys. It led him to consider how the closing process could be improved with a digital-first business.

Saunders teamed up with two colleagues, one of whom is a real estate lawyer and the other an entrepreneur, to form Ownright in 2022 and launch it in 2023. Now a team of 19 including an in-house legal team, the company has closed over 1,000 transactions.

Having received $4.5 million in seed fundraising in March, Saunders has hopes to strengthen both its legal services and its reach in Canada.

Ownright’s legal services

A key feature of Ownright is the openness and convenience. Rather than meet with a lawyer in person, users access a platform where they consult with Ownright’s lawyers and complete tasks such as verifying their identity, clarifying how their property is being financed and signing documents.

When the closing day approaches, Ownright’s portal shows the progress on an hour-by-hour basis. Likened to the experience of riding in an Uber and knowing where you are travelling, or tracking a food delivery on Doordash as it makes its way to your door, Saunders said Ownright aims to be “a lot more convenient, a lot more transparent” so there is less stress.

Ownright charges a fee for property closings and mortgage refinancing, with a complimentary status certificate review when the property closes.

The company says this shaves off hours of effort per client and is cheaper compared to traditional law firms — 25 per cent less on average, according to Saunders. Savings are also achieved by cutting some disbursement and service fees, he explained.

To counter fraud from the absence of face-to-face interactions, Ownright requires clients to complete an identity verification through a third-party platform that is compliant with Law Society of Ontario standards for digital ID verification tools.

Other safeguards include mandatory video signing meetings, crosschecks of banking information and dual internal review of all fund transfers before disbursement. Ownright’s lawyers will also apply their professional judgment, Saunders said.

A collaborator, not a disruptor

While the company could be viewed as a tech upstart impacting the legal industry by moving fast and shaking up existing processes, Saunders says he has received a favourable response to Ownright from its peers. He does not intend for Ownright to be a market disruptor, in the way Uber dramatically impacted the taxi industry.

“Our approach has not really been to come off as a disruptor. We’re trying to work collaboratively with everyone in our industry.”

To date, the company has closed over $750 million in transactions and is on track to $1 billion in closings by the end of the year. It has supported more purchases than sales, a testament to how most of its clients are first-time homebuyers.

Ownright offers its services Ontario-wide and will focus on the province for now. But that may change with the recent fundraise.

Tech improvements, marketing, potential growth

The $4.5-million seed fundraise was led by Alate and Relay Ventures.

Ownright plans to use the funds to refine the efficiency of its back office administration in Ontario. Also, it will further marketing efforts and build its brand, a major step being its renaming from Doormat to Ownright.

Ontario is its only market today, but Saunders intends to expand Ownright to other provinces. British Columbia and Alberta make the most sense, Saunders said, because of their size.

Likewise, Saunders said Ownright will concentrate on the closing side of real estate transactions for now.

Once it feels confident it has mastered that service, the company may look to help buyers and sellers in the insurance space or property management.