It is now even more important than before that you make sure
that the Deed of Transfer of your property is kept in a safe place.
If you sell your house or register a mortgage bond the
original of the Deed of Transfer is needed for the transfer process. If there
is already a mortgage bond on the property, the documents are kept by the Bank.
We are inundated with circumstances where the owners have
lost their title deeds. The process to apply for a certified lost copy was,
although with a cost implication, fairly simple. Unfortunately, like many other
procedures the existing procedure was also hi jacked by the crooks who forged
signatures and applied for certified lost copies and transferred properties
fraudulently.
In order to limit these illegal operations, the regulations
for the application of a certified lost copy has now been changed. From 24 February 2019 the affidavit that accompanies the application to the Registrar of Deeds
must be attested by a Notary Public and notification of the intention to apply
for a lost copy must be published in the Government Gazette and be open for
inspection at the deeds registry for two weeks.
This new procedure will result in increased costs and time
delays. If you are aware that your title deed is lost or damaged, we suggest
that you make contact with a conveyancer as soon as possible so that
application for a certified lost copy can be done before the procedure changes.
The Chief Registrar of Deeds has today - 21/02/2019 - given notice that the new application procedure to apply for lost deeds, which would have come into operation on 25 February 2019, is suspended until further notice.