The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 88
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Lands alienated or contracted to be alienated from the Crown in fee, prior to the coming into operation of "The Land Transfer Act, 1870," may, when a Crown Grant thereof Una been issued, be brought under the provisions of the Act by application from the persons entitled thereto.
All lands alienated from the Crown after the Coming into operation of "The Land Transfer Act, 1870," are subject to the provisions of the Act, and all dealings therewith must be effected by instruments in the forms prescribed by the Act.
The fallowing are examples of the fees payable for bringing land under the provisions of the Land Transfer Act: —
1. When the title consists of a grant, dated on or subsequent to the 28th December, 1841, none of the land included in which has been dealt with—
£ | s. | d. | |
---|---|---|---|
Where the certificate of title is directed to issue in the name of the applicant: Value of had £100 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
Where, the certificate of title is directed to issue in the name of the purchaser: Value of land £100 | 1 | 11 | 2 |
[These charges are increased by 4s. 2d. (Assurance Fund) for every additional £1100 in value.]
2. When the applicant is the original grantee, and the land has been dealt with, the certificate of title being directed to issue in the name of the applicant—
£ | s. | d. | |
---|---|---|---|
Where the value of the land is £100 | 1 | 14 | 2 |
Where the value of the land is £200 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Where the value of the land is £300 | 2 | 12 | 6 |
Where the value of the land is £400 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
3. When the applicant is not the original grantee—
Where the value of the land is £100 | 2 | 14 | 2 |
Where the value of the land is £200 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
Where the value of the land is £300 | 3 | 12 | 6 |
Where the value of the land is £400 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
Where the value of the land is above £400, the fees increase at the rate of 4s. 2d. (Assurance Fund) for every additional £100 in value. The charges in this last example (3) also represent the cost of conveying land, inasmuch as applicants to bring land under the Act can direct the certificates of title to issue in the names of any other persona.
It must be borne in mind that as the examples are merely given by way of illustration, they are only applicable to cases where the value of the land to be brought under the Act agrees exactly with the value given. The contribution to the Assurance Fund is ½d. in the £, and, therefore, the fees vary with every £ in value.
Credit for fees is given when desired by the applicant, in all cases where he applies to have the land registered in his own name; and the fees may remain unpaid until the land is dealt with.
page iiUnder the old system of conveyancing, the loss of a single deed may cause the title to be unmarketable. Persona who bring their land under the Act surrender their deeds, and receive in exchange a certificate of title, a duplicate of which is retained in the office. If the certificate in the possession of the registered proprietor is at any time lost, or destroyed by fire, &c., a now certificate is supplied by the Registrar on payment of the prescribed fees.
On all conveyances by deed under the old system, the cost of registration in the Deeds Registry, over and above the Solicitor's charge, is seldom less than 15s., frequently very much more; while land which has been brought under the provisions of the Land Transfer Act can be transferred at a total cost of 11s. where a whole section is conveyed, and where only part is conveyed (and therefore a fresh certificate of title necessitated), of 31s., which is the highest sum allowed by the Act, no matter what the value or area of the land.
The charge for certificates of title issued upon memoranda of transfer is 10s., in all cases where the value of the land is under £10.
The total cost of executing a mortgage, lease, or encumbrance of land registered under the Act is 12s., no matter what the amount involved.
A mortgage may be transferred or discharged, or a lease transferred or surrendered, for 5s.
1. | It secures all the benefits sought to be attained in a system of registration of deeds, with the additional advantage that the title itself is registered. |
2. | It render retrospective investigations of title unnecessary. |
3. | It simplifies the titles to real property for the future. |
4. | It makes purchasers perfectly secure. |
5. | It simplifies to the utmost possible extent the forms of transfer and themodes of conveyance. |
6. | It increases the saleable value of land. |
7. | It tends to lower the rale of interest on leans secured on lands. |
8. | It gives facilities for the sale of large estates, in allotments. |
9. | Transactions can be effected without delay, and at a minimum of cost. |
10. | Frauds in the purchase and sale of land are effectually prevented, because the certificate of title in the possession of the vendor shows the exact condition of the estate, i.e., if the estate be mortgaged, encumbered, or leased. Memoranda disclosing the particulars of any such transactions affecting the estate are written upon the certificate of title. Lands purchased from the Crown since the coming into operation of the Land Transfer Act cannot be dealt with under the old system. |
G. B. Davy, Registrar-General of Land.
page breakFor the "General Remarks," and the adaptation of Mr. TORRENS'S "Instructions to Persons Dealing," I am indebted to Joshua Strange Wiliams, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-Law.
The Index has been prepared by D'Arcy Haggitt, Esq., Solicitor, of Dunedin, and revised and enlarged in this office.
G. B. DAVY,
Registrar-General of Land. Office of Registrar-General of Land, Wellington, February, 1878.