Hey,
Looking at buying a property and discovered it is under a "General Law" title as opposed to the modern "Torrens" title.
From my research I found:
In Victoria, we have two types of land: torrens system land and general law land. The main difference is that all torrens system land is governed by the Transfer of Land Act (which commenced in 1958) and each piece of land has a certificate of title which is kept at the Land Titles Office.
Prior to the Transfer of Land Act commencing, all land was general law land. Most of the land in Victoria has been converted to torrens system land but there are still a few pieces of general law land around. General law land does not have a certificate of title. Ownership of general law land is transferred by signing a deed of conveyance (rather than just signing a transfer and having it registered on the title). Instead of having a certificate of title, ownership of general law land is shown by producing the "chain of conveyance" (which is the series of deeds attached to this vendor's statement).
A General Law Title must be transferred to the “modern” Torrens Title as part of the purchase / transfer.
Does anyone have experience in purchasing a property like this? What sort of difficulties / oncosts might it present? Should I run screaming in the other direction? (maybe everyone else is so it could be a good opportunity!).Thanks
This is old system title and will be costly to do the conveyancing. It is complicated and not many lawyers these days will have experience doing it – although it is still taught in law school. Basically a good root of title has to be show. ie the current owner has to show evidence of the transmission of the land back for about 80 years.
It will probably be converted to torrens title when you regsiter the transfer but I am not sure of how this is done or the costs involved. I would suggest you look for a lawyer who had qualified many years ago.
Terryw | Structuring Lawyers Pty Ltd / Loan Structuring Pty Ltd
http://www.Structuring.com.au
Email MeLawyer, Mortgage Broker and Tax Advisor (Sydney based but advising Aust wide) http://www.Structuring.com.au
Thanks Terry for the info.
The section 32 shows a series of deeds dating back to ~ 1930's so that aspect should be ok.
When you say costly do you have any ballpark figure? I have contacted my solicitor but don't think she will have the experience to handle something like this.
Thanks
benno79Maybe up to a $1000 extra. I think there are some solicitors that advertise their specialty in this area. Perhaps the Law Society could point you in the direction of one.
Terryw | Structuring Lawyers Pty Ltd / Loan Structuring Pty Ltd
http://www.Structuring.com.au
Email MeLawyer, Mortgage Broker and Tax Advisor (Sydney based but advising Aust wide) http://www.Structuring.com.au
Terryw wrote:Maybe up to a $1000 extra. I think there are some solicitors that advertise their specialty in this area. Perhaps the Law Society could point you in the direction of one.This is about the figure that they will charge extra "Old Law' is not really that hard anyway if you have some experience.
On the upside you maybe able to negotiate a more favourable purchase price due to the extra hassleThe Land Titles Office will insist that it be converted to Torrens and appropriate documents must be prepared & lodged, at least the survey requirement has now been waived in most instances
Some lenders may have trouble with this also so maybe check this out as well prior to comitting to a Contract, however as the Title will be converted most of the bigger Banks should be able to handle it, just don't expect your Broker and/or Lending Manager to understand
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