Global Land Registration Systems

Global Land Registration Systems

Land registration systems, involve deeds recording, and title registration. A Deed recording is a system of giving publicity to land transactions and helping to prevent concealed dealings.

The act of recording a deed gives notice to the public of a claimed interest in land and establishes priority against other possible claimants to the same interest although there is usually no statutory compulsion for parties to a transaction to record their documents although it is prudent for them to do so while it is risky if they do not.

An unrecorded document is legally ineffective against any subsequent bonafide purchaser or mortgagee who first records an interest in the same land. For example, suppose that a vendor fraudulently sells the same piece of land to two different purchasers at different times.

The purchaser who first records his or her transaction has the better claim to the land, even if that transaction took place later than the first one, provided the purchaser has bought in good faith and is unaware of the first purchase. In such a situation the first purchaser has no claim against the deeds registry and would have to pursue a legal remedy against the vendor, who by that time might be bankrupt or have fled the jurisdiction.

Under a system of deeds recording, a document presented for entry is normally Accepted at face value and not subjected to detailed technical scrutiny by registry staff.

Unless a survey plan accompanies document it may be very difficult to determine the size, shape and location of the land in question. Boundary descriptions that attempt to define parcel limits solely by citing the names of adjoining owners, who may have departed long ago, are among the possible sources of confusion in interpreting deeds, also are the frequent ambiguities in metes and bounds descriptions.

A deeds recording system usually offers insufficient information seek to identify areas and extent of private and public lands. Not only does this deficiency affect the conveyance process; it leads uncertainties of ownership, boundary disputes, unlawful occupancy, and the lack of a national, regional or local land inventory for system.

For an individual proprietor, the imperfection of a land title that is not fully documented may restrict the ability to obtain a mortgage or other credit financing from a lending institution.

The insecurity of a flawed or uncertain title also impairs the marketability of land, inhibits its development, and may lead to its eventual decay or abandonment.

Despite its obvious shortcomings a deeds recording system is sometimes preferred by some parties to land transactions because documents can be recorded more quickly and at a lower cost than under a land titles registration system.

Deeds registries may also be favored by some administrations because they are less costly to establish and operate than land title offices.