Legal Articles

The Deeds Registries Act serves to regulate the functions and laws related to title deed transfer as well as the successful registration of title deeds in South Africa.

What is the Purpose of a Title Deed?

Once you have purchased a home, you are given official ownership of the home’s title deed which not only proves ownership but also states the necessary details of a property, its conditions as well as the purchase price.

Registration of Title Deeds

The transfer of a title deed can be achieved with the help of conveyancing attorneys, and the registration of the deed is done by the registrar of deeds in the deed’s office.

The Deeds Registries Act Summary and its Amendments

In order to provide clarity on matters related to the act, we have put together a brief summary of the Act, including some important amendments pertaining to its functions:

The Registrar of Deeds

Registrars of deeds are not obliged to follow the practice and procedure directives that are issued from time to time by the chief registrar of deeds.
The result is that different practices and procedures are being followed in the different deeds registries across the country.

The amendment proposed in Clause 2(l)(b) of the Deeds Registries Amendment Bill of 2008 seeks to eliminate this problem by obliging registrars to comply with directives and thus promote uniformity in all the deeds registries throughout the country.

Details Required in a Title Deed – Section 17 of the Deeds Registries Act

Section 17(2) of the Act provides for the disclosure of the full names and marital status of a person in a deed that needs to be executed in or lodged for registration or record in a deeds registry.

The proposed amendment of section 17(2) of the Bill is also necessary to provide for the disclosure of the full names and marital status of a person in documents other than title deeds, that need to be executed or attested by a registrar of deeds.

Replacing a Lost Title Deed – Section 38 of the Deeds Registries Act

Section 38 makes provision for the issuing of a certificate of registered title in cases where the original title deed has been either lost or destroyed and the registry duplicate of such title deed has also been lost or destroyed.

However, the section does not provide for the issuing of a certificate of registered title where the title deed of a registered real right in immovable property has been lost or destroyed along with the registry duplicate of such title deed.

The proposed amendment in of the Bill seeks to enable a registrar to issue a certificate of registered title in such instances as well.

Publishing the Deed of Transfer South Africa – Section 38 of the Deeds Registries Act

Section 38 of the Act provides for the publication of a notice in two consecutive issues of the Gazette and in two consecutive issues of a newspaper printed in the division, district or county in which land is situated, of a registrar's intention to issue a certificate of registered title.

The proposed amendment of section 38 of the Bill seeks to simplify and facilitate the publication of the notice.

In many divisions, districts or counties, no newspapers as contemplated by the subsection are printed. However, newspapers printed in other areas are circulating within the specific areas.

Original Mortgage Bond Document

The Act does not provide for any measures in instances where the original registered mortgage bond and the registrar's duplicate thereof have been lost or destroyed.

The insertion of section 60A as proposed in Clause 4 of the Bill now creates a mechanism whereby such a lost or destroyed mortgage bond can be replaced, which will contribute towards mortgagee's peace of mind in respect of their security.

Van Deventer & Van Deventer Incorporated - Conveyancing Attorneys South Africa

We provide a wide variety of conveyancing services including assistance with title deed transfer. For more information about our legal services, feel free to contact our attorneys in Cape Town and Johannesburg.