Systems Of Land Registration Notes

Property Law Topic 7 Systems of Land Registration SYSTEMS OF LAND REGISTRATION EXAM FOCUS: OCT 13: ACCORDING TO THE PROPERTY REGISTRATION AUTHORITY, BY INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON, IRELAND HAS A VERY EXTENSIVE AND WELL DEVELOPED SYSTEM OF LAND REGISTRATION. SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE LAND REGISTRY IN 1892, THERE HAS BEEN A GRADUAL, ONGOING AND CONTINUOUS PROGRAMME OF MOVEMENT AWAY FROM THE OLDER AND LIMITED SYSTEM OF RECORDING DEEDS (IN THE REGISTRY OF DEEDS), TO THE MORE MODEM, FLEXIBLE AND COMPREHENSIVE 'TITLE REGISTRATION' SYSTEM PROVIDED THROUGH THE LAND REGISTRY. IN LIGHT OF THE ABOVE STATEMENT, DESCRIBE AND DISCUSS THE SYSTEM FOR RECORDING PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS IN IRELAND. APRIL 14: CRITICALLY ANALYSE THE IRISH STATUTORY PROVISIONS GOVERNING LAND REGISTRATION, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO SECURITY OF TITLE AND THE TRANSFER OF PROPERTY IN IRELAND. SEPT 14: SAME Q AS OCT 13. 2014: ACCORDING TO THE PROPERTY REGISTRATION AUTHORITY, BY INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON, IRELAND HAS A VERY EXTENSIVE AND WELL DEVELOPED SYSTEM OF LAND REGISTRATION. SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE LAND REGISTRY IN 1892, THERE HAS BEEN A GRADUAL, ONGOING AND CONTINUOUS PROGRAMME OF' MOVEMENT AWAY FROM THE OLDER AND LIMITED SYSTEM OF RECORDING DEEDS (IN THE REGISTRY OF DEEDS), TO THE MORE MODERN, FLEXIBLE AND COMPREHENSIVE 'TITLE REGISTRATION' SYSTEM PROVIDED THROUGH THE LAND REGISTRY. IN LIGHT OF THE ABOVE STATEMENT, DESCRIBE AND DISCUSS THE SYSTEM FOR RECORDING PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS IN IRELAND. Functions of land registration systems Two systems  'registered land' and Land registry system Registration of Title Act 1964  'unregistered land' o Registry of Deeds System Registration of Deeds Act 1707  Established a system of registration for property commonly referred to as unregistered land. It established the Registry of Deeds whose aim was to provide some form of registration relating to the ownership of land in order to reflect the title of that land.  Essentially, the Act introduced a system of registration whereby a "memorial" of title documentation / deeds of a property were lodged with the Registry.  The memorial was not the deed itself, not did its lodgement have the effect of registering a person's title to the land. Property Law Topic 7 Systems of Land Registration Instead, a memorial was a short summary of the contents of a Deed, and was considered secondary evidence of the contents of the Deed.  The main aim and function of the Registry was to enable a potential purchaser or member of the public to conduct a search in the Registry by way pf a Hand Search. This enabled them to know with some degree of certainty who held the title to land, and indeed, what priority certain charges or interests held in the land. Essential difference is that the latter involves the registration of deeds and the collection of a number of documents relating to the various interests over the land, whereas land registration results in the creation of a single register in relation to each piece of registered land on which title to the various interest over the property are noted. Now one administrative body--Property Registration Authority (PRA) est. Registration of Deeds and Title act 2006 s 9--functions of PRA incl. encouraging the registration of title prepare the country for full e-conveyancing. Main Responsibilities: 1. Manage Registry of Deeds and Land Registry 2. Promote the registration of land 3. Conduct research into the system of land registration 4. Liaise with the Minister for Justice regarding the registration of title and ecide how best to increase registration of land 5. Devise three-year strategic plans, setting out its objectives, aims, and resources 6. Prepare an annual report for the Minister for Justice 7. Identify areas in need of registration and address shortfalls 8. Cease the issue of physical land certificates in relation to registered land and cancel existing certificates within 3 years Purpose of centralisation of functions in the PRA--preparation for e-conveyancing. Protects the owners of property and monitor the land itself so that the transactions undertaken in a busy modern market are recorded and thus protected. 1. Unregistered Land (formerly 'registry of deeds') Registration of Deeds (Ireland) Act 1707 Registration of interests by means of a memorandum; important evidential purpose of the memorandum The benefit of registering interest is twofold: (1) non registration deems some deeds ineffective; and (2) registered interests achieve priority over unregistered/subsequently-registered interests [see below] An unregistered deed is void as against a registered deed pursuant to s. 38(2) of the 2006 Act. 38(3) preserves the common law exception that the registration of a deed does not secure priority for a purchaser who had actual knowledge of an earlier unregistered deed at the time of the transaction. Property Law Topic 7 Systems of Land Registration Ineffective deeds are deeds relating to interests that, while valid, are unenforceable as a result of a failure to register. These are judgment mortgages, bankruptcy vesting certificates of adjudication, and damage and improvement charging orders. Priorities are used to determine the priority of competing interests over land. The unregistered land system decides priority based on (a) whether an interest is registered and (b) which interest is registered first. The equitable systems of assessing priority, which took into account (a) whether the interest was legal or equitable and (b) when each interest was created. First determine whether the equitable of statutory principles of priority apply in any given circumstance. This is done by reference to a simple test: 1. Are all of the interests capable of being registered under the 1707 Act? 2. If yes, are any of the interests actually registered? The Statutory Rules of Priority    Registered interest v registered interest--first registered (s. 5) Registered interest v registrable but unregistered interest--registered (s. 5) Registrable but unregistered interest v registered interest --registered (s. 5) unless holder of later interest had actual notice of earlier interest and registered in order to defeat it or the later interest was acquired without giving valuable consideration The Equitable Principles of Priority     Earlier legal interest v later legal interest--first in time prevails Earlier equitable interest v later equitable interest--first in time prevails Earlier legal interest v later equitable interest--first in time prevails Earlier equitable interest v later legal interest--first in time prevails unless holder of later legal interest is the bona fide purchaser of that interest for value without notice 2. Registered Land Registration of Title Act 1964 Rather than register 'ownership' (as is done under unregistered system) we register title, I.e. documentary entitlement to a certain interest in the land Each piece of land has a certificate and is identified by a folio number; all registered transactions relating to a piece of land are registered on the one document thereby making documentary enquiries in Conveyancing much more straightforward and less time consuming. The concept that the certificate would accurately reflect all of the interests arising or existing in relation to that piece of land is key to the registered land system and is known as the mirror principle or the principle of conclusivity. Contained in s 31 of the Registration of Title Act 1964. It applies to registered land

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