Change To Legal Status Of Property Titles?
March 16th, 2009
Laws governing NZ’s property title system are in for an overhaul as the Govt moves to update the Land Transfer Act 1952.
The legislation sets out rules relating to how property is held and transferred. The cornerstone of NZ’s property holding system is titles are indefeasible. This means the registered proprietor has legal title to land, and this can be challenged in only the rarest of situations.
This is known as the Torrens System and aims to simplify land titles and ensure buyers and sellers do not have to engage in the expensive process of tracing the history of the land holding, as is required in other countries.
The basis of the review is a discussion document released by the Law Commission and Land Information NZ last October. It poses 193 questions about the Land Transfer Act, and suggests options for new legislation. The paper queries whether the law relating to land fraud is satisfactory, or whether changes are required, and also asks whether compensation is adequate for the victims of such fraud.
The document outlines three possible models for a new Land Transfer Act. These are a modernised version of the current act, incorporating the 1963 and 2002 Amendment Acts, a structure based on the Queensland Land Title Act 1994, or a structure modelled on the principle-based Canadian Model Land Recording and Registration Act. Submissions are at present being analysed.
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