Newsflash: Replacement Title Deeds, by ESI Attorneys.
ONLY PUBLISHED APPLICATIONS FOR REPLACEMENT TITLE DEEDS WILL BE ACCEPTED FROM 2 JANUARY 2020
Deeds Offices now will, from 2 January 2020, no longer accept applications for replacement title deeds unless the application has been published in a local newspaper.
In terms of Chief Registrars Circular 5 of 2019, as from 2 January 2020, any individual or entity wishing to have a replacement title deed or notarial bond replaced due to it being lost and/or destroyed, will have to approach a conveyancer and sign an application in terms of Regulation 68(1) of the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937. The application will then have to then be published in a local newspaper where the land is registered and proof of the publication must be obtained from the newspaper. The proof of publication and application must be open for inspection and/or objection for two weeks in the Deeds Office in the Province where the land is registered. Only after the two weeks has elapsed may the application be lodged with the respective Deeds Office.
Should the document that is lost be a notarial bond, then the same procedure will be followed, except that a notification in a local newspaper will have to be lodged in every province where the notarial bond is registered. Presumably then, the proof and application must made available for inspection in every Deeds Office where the notarial bond is registered.
Finally, the Chief Registrars Circular speaks of a ‘newspaper circulating in the area where the land is registered’. Meaning that the newspaper will have to be a regional or large newspaper such as the Argus, The Mercury or Cape Times in order to comply with the circular.
It is imperative then that, should you be in the process of negotiating or attending to a sale, you ensure that the original title deed is in your or the Seller’s possession, otherwise there will be delays.
Contact Robert at robert@esilaw.co.za for further information.