LAND REGISTRATION ORDINANCE

LAND REGISTRATION ORDINANCE

CHAPTER 128.

LAND REGISTRATION.

To provide for the registration of deeds, conveyances, wills, and
judgments affecting real or immovable Property.

[28th February, 1844.1

WHEREAS it is expedient to prevent secret and fraudulent
conveyances, and to provide means whereby the title to real and
immovable property may be easily traced and ascertained :

1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Land Registration
Ordinance.

Registration of instruments affecting land.

2. The Land Office shall be a public office for the registration of
deeds, conveyances, and other instruments in writing, and wills and
judgments; and all deeds, conveyances, and other instruments in
writing, aiid wills, and all judgments, by which deeds, conveyances,
and other instruments in writing, and wills and judgments, any parcels
of ground, tenements, or premises in this Colony, may be affected, may
be entered and registered in the said office in the manner hereinafter
directed.

3. (1) All such deeds, conveyances, aiid other instruments in
writing, and wills and judgments, made, executed, or obtained, and
registered in pursuance hereof, shall have priority one over the other
according to the priority of their respective dates of registration.

(2) All such deeds, conveyances, and other instruments in writing,
and wills and judgments, as last aforesaid, which are not registered
shall (as against any subsequent bona fide purchaser or mortgagee for
valuable consideration of the same me parcels of ground, tenements, or
premises) be absolutely null and void to all intents and purposes:
Provided that nothing herein contained shall extend to bona fide leases
at rack rent for any term not exceeding three years.





4. No notice whatsoever, either actual or constructive, of any prior
unregistered deed, conveyance, or other instrument in writing, or will or
judgment, shall affect. the priority of any such instrument as aforesaid
as is duly registered.

5. All deeds, conveyances, and other instruments in writing, and
wills and judgments, which are duly registered within, the respective
times next mentioned, that is to say, all deeds, conveyances, and other
instruments in writing (except wills) which, if executed in this Colony,
are registered within one month or which, if executed in any other place,
are registered within twelve months, after the time of execution thereof
respectively, and all wills which, if the devisor dies in this Colony, are
registered within one month, or which, if the devisor dies in any other
place, are regis. tered within twelve months, after the decease of every
devisor respectively, and all judgments which ' are registered within
one month after the entering up or recording thereof, shall severally be
in like manner entitled to priority, and shall take effect respectively by
relation to the date thereof only in the same manner as if this Ordinance
had not been passed.

Mode of regisPration.

6. The registration intended by this Ordinance shall be made in
manner following, that is to say, a memorial containing the particulars
hereinafter specified shall be delivered into the Land Office, signed, in
the case of a deed, conveyance, or other instrument in writing, except a
will, by some or one of the parties to the original instrument, or, if such
parties are dead or absent from the Colony, then by one or more of the
witnesses to such instrument ' and in the case of a will by some or one
of the devisees or his guardian or trustees, and in the case of a
judgment by a party to the action in which such judgment is delivered
or by his agent or by a person claiming under or through such party.

7. Every such memorial shall contain a just and true account of the
several particulars therein set forth and shall be verified

(a)by the oath of some competent person taken before any
justice of the peace; or





(b)by the certificate of a person admitted and enrolled as a
solicitor in the Colony.

8. (1) The memorial of any deed, conveyance, or other instrument in
writing, and of any will, shall contain the date of such deed,
conveyance, or other instrument, or of such will, and the particular
nature and object thereof, the names and additions of all the parties to
such deed, conveyance, or other instrument, and of the devisor and
devisee or devisees of such will, aiid the. names and additions of all the
witnesses thereto and sliall especially particularize and express the
parcels of ground, tenements and premises affected or intended to be
affected by such deed, conveyance, or other instrument, or by such
will, and the proper and ordinary or, accustomed names of the places
where the same are situated, aiid (except in the case of a will) the
pecuniary or other consideration for the same, in the forill or to the
effect of the form in the Schedule.

(2) The memorial of aily judgment shall contain the names and
additions of the plaintiffs and defendants respectively, the sum thereby
recovered or secured, if any, the time of entering up or recording the
same, and the sum of nioney bona fide due thereon, if any.

(3) Provided always that when there are more writings than one for
perfecting the same conveyance, devise or security affecting the same
parcels of ground, tenements, aiid premises, all such writings shall be
stated in one and the same memorial, in which it shall be sufficient to
particularize such parcels, tenements and premises only once.

9. (1) OR the delivery of any such memorial as aforesaid, the Land
Officer shall number the memorial according to the order of time in
which it has been so delivered, and shall give a receipt for it, in which
receipt shall bc specified the certain day and tinle of day when the
memorial was so delivered, and the proper number thereof in the
register of the Land Office.

(2) The Land Officer shall also in like manner immediately indorse
on the back of the memorial a certificate, containing the day and the
time of day when the memorial was so delivered, and the name and
place of abode of the





person verifying it, and shall sign the certificate when so indorsed.

(3) Such certificate shall be taken and allowed as evidence of the
registration, and of the time of registration, of the deed, conveyance, or
other instrument, or of the will or judgment, of which the memorial has
been so made.

10. Every such memorial shall, as soon after the receipt thereof as
practic~Lble, be carefully registered by the Land Officer, in regular
succession as received, according to its proper number, in a particular
book to be kept by him for that purpose, and shall afterwards be
deposited by him in some secure place in his office, and there kept for
future reference when required.

11. The Land Officer shall also keep an index of the parcels of
ground, tenements, and premises mentioned in every such memorial
and also a like index or indices of the names of the several parties to
deeds, conveyances, and other instruments in writing, and of the
devisors and devisees in the case of wills, aiid of the plaintiffs and
defendants in the case of judgments, with accurate references in all
such indices respectively to the number and page of registry of the lie
memorial to which any entry in such indices relates.

12. In the case of any mortgage or judgment registered, if at any
time afterwards such verified certificate as is hereinafter next mentioned
is brought to the Land Officer, signed by the mortgagor and mortgagee
or plaintiff and defendant or their agents as the case may be, and
attested by two credible witnesses, whereby it appears that the whole
of the moneys due on such mortgage or judgment have been fully paid,
or that such mortgage or judgment is otherwise satisfied, then the Land
Officer shall make a short entry or memorandum thereof on the memorial
and on the margin of the registry of such mortgage or judgment, and
shall afterwards carefully register the certificate in one of the registry
books of his office, and the Land Officer shall make an entry thereof in
his indices referring accurately to the page of registry of the certificate.





13. (1) Every such certificate shall contain the following particulars,
that is to say, in the case of a mortgage the names and additions of the
original parties, the date of the instrument, the sum thereby secured,
and the time of. payment or other satisfaction thereof; and in the case
of a judgment the names and additions of the plaintiffs and defendants,
the time of entering up or recording the same, the sum thereby
recovered, if any, aiid the date of payment or other satisfaction of the
amount bona fide due thereon, if any.

(2) Every such certificate shall contain a just and true account of
the several particulars therein set forth and shall be verified

(a)by the oath of some competent person taken before . any
justice of the peace, or

(b)by the certificate of a person admitted and enrolled as a
solicitor in the Colony.

(3) On the back of such verified certificate the Land Officer shall
immediately indorse the date when the same was received by him, and
the name and place of abode of the person verifying the same, and the
certificate shall, after being so indorsed and entered as foresaid, be
safely kept in his office for future reference when required.

Registration of lis pendens

14. The provisions of this Ordinance relating to judgments
(subject to the provisions hereinafter contained) shall extend to lites
pendentes within the intent and meaning of the judgments Act, 1839,
and the Act of 13 and 14 Victoria, chapter 35.

15. The memorial of any such lis pendens shall be sufficient if it is
signed by the plaintiff or person claiming to be plaintiff to the said lis
pendens, and contains the names and additions of the said person
and of the defendant or person whose estate is intended to be affected
thereby, and the day when the bill, information, or special case was
filed, and the sum of money thereby claimed or in controversy; but the
said memorial shall be verified in all other respects as is provided in the
case of judgments.





16. Notwithstanding the said Acts of Parliament, no lis Pendens
shall be registered in the Registry of the Supreme Court, or elsewhere
than in the Land Office; and a lis Pendens not registered in the said
office shall not bind any purchaser or mortgagee of the estaite intended
to be thereby affected.

17. So much of the said Acts of Parliament and of the judgments
Act, 1840, and the Judgments Act, 1855, as requires the re-registering of
judgments and lites pendentes after every successive period of five
years, beginning from the entry thereof respectively, shall extend to all
judgments, lites pendentes and orders, registered in the Land Office,
and by which it is intended to affect any estate.

18. Subject to the provisions of section II of the judgments Act, .
1855, for the relief of purchasers and mortgagees for valuable
consideration against the judgments, Crown debts, and liabilities of
paid-off mortgagees (which provisions are hereby extended to this
Colony), every lis Pendens registered or re-registered, and also everv
judgment or order re-registered in manner aforesaid, shall have the same
force and effect as a judgment registered and not further or otherwise.

Vacation of registration of lis Pendens.

19. The court or judge before whom any property sought to be
bound is in litigation, may on the determination of the lis pendens, or
during the pendency thereof, where the said court or judge is satisfied
that the litigation is not prosecuted bona fide, or for other good
cause shown, make an order for the vacating of the registration in the
Land Office of such lis Pendens without the consent of the party who
registered it, and may direct the party on whose behalf the registration
was made to pay all the costs and expenses occasioned by the
registration or the vacating thereof, including the costs of the
application to vacate, or may make such other order as to such costs or
any of them as to the said court oi* judge may seem just.

.20. The application to vacate a lis Pendens under section 19 may
be in a summary way by petition or motion in court or by summons in
chambers, aiid may be made





by any person interested in the property against which the lis Pendens
has been registered, whether such person is a party to the lis Pendens
or not.

21. If an order is made for vacating any such registration, the Land
Officer shall, on the filing with him of a memorial and an office copy of
such order, enter a discharge of such lis Pendens on the register, and
may issue certificates of such entry.

Miscellaneous.

22. It shall be lawful for any person to deposit in the Land Office
for safe custody any deed, conveyance, power of attorney, or other
instrument in writing whatsoever, or his last will and testament, of
which deeds, conveyances, powers of attorney, or other instruments,
wills, and testnients the Land Officer shall (first giving a receipt for the
same) immediately make an entry in a book to be kept for that purpose,
to which book he shall keep an accurate alphabetical index having
reference as well to the name of the testator or parties to each such
deed or instrument as to the person depositing the same; and the Land
Officer shall carefully and securely keep all such deeds, conveyances
powers of attorney, or other instruments, wills, and testaments in his
office until required by the party depositing the same to deliver them
back again : Provided that every such will or testament shall be
enclosed within a cover or envelope, sealed wit ' h the seal of the
testator, whose narne shall be indorsed by the Land Officer thereon and
every such will or testament shall remain in the said office until the
decease of the testator, unless he. previously requires the same to be
delivered back, and on the death of the testator the Land Officer shall
(after examining such will or testament) deliver the same to the executor
first named therein, or to such other person as may be duly authorized
to receive the same.

23. If the Land Officer or any other person employed in the Land
Office wilfully neglects or omits to number, register, or enter in manner
hereinbefore directed any memorial or certificate delivered into the said
office, he shall be liable in damages to the party injured to the extent of
the loss or injury sustained.





24. If the Land Officer or any clerk or person whosoever wilfully
destroys, embezzles, or. secretes, forges, counterfeits, razes, defaces,
or alters any memorial or any part thereof, or any indorsement thereon,
or any entry or registry thereof in any book in the said office, with
intent to defraud or injure any person, such Land Officer, clerk, or
person so offending shall be guilty of felony, and shall be liable to
imprisonment for fourteen years.

25. Any correction by erasure, interlineation, or otherwise in any
memorial of the registry of any document shall be noted and set forth at
length in red ink in the margin of the memorial wherein it is made,
together with the reasons for making the same, and shall be attested
and verified by the signature of the Land Officer.

26. Any assistant land officer acting in the place or on
behalf of the Land Officer shall have the same duties and
powers as are given by this or any other Ordinance to the
Land Officer.

27. (1) It shall be lawful for the Governor in Council to make
regulations as to the fees to be taken in the Land Office.

(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (3), the true
consideration shall be stated in all documents registered in the Land
Office.

(3) Where the amount or value of the consideration money is not
stated in any deed, assignment, mortgage or other instrument tendered
for registration in the Land Office, or where no consideration money or
merely nominal consideration money passes thereunder, the value of
the property, to which such deed, assignment, mortgage or other
instrument relates, shall be determined by the Land Officer and the like
fees shall be paid as if the value so determined were the amount or
value of the consideration money.







SCHEDULE.

PARTICULARS OF MEMORIAL OF REGISTRATION. [s. 8.1

1. Date of instrument or will.

2. Nature and object thereof.

3. Names and additions of the parties or of the devisors or devisees.

4. Names and additions of the witnesses thereto.

5. Description of the land or premises conveyed in or affected by the
instrument or will.

6. Name and description of the place where situate.

7. Consideration and to whom and how paid.

8. Any other particulars which the case may require.
Originally 3 of 1844. Fraser 1 of 1844. 23 of 1938. 40 of 1948. 9 of 1950. 37 of 1950. Short title. Establishment of Land Office for registration of instruments affecting land. Priority of registered instruments; effect of non-registration. Notice of unregistered instrument not to affect registered instrument. Period within which instruments to be registered after execution. Delivery into Land Office of memorial of instrument to be registered. Vertification of memorial. 9 of 1950, Schedule. Particulars to be contained in memorial. Schedule. Numbering receipt for, and indorsement of certificate on memorial. [s. 9 cont.] Registration and custody of memorial. Indices of land registered and of parties to instruments. Entry of satisfaction of mortgage or judgment and registration of certificate of satisfaction. Contents, vertification, and custody of certificate of satisfaction of mortgage or judgment. 9 of 1950, Schedule. Application to lis pendens. (2 & 3 Vict, c. 11) Particulars to be contained in memorial. Case of lis pendens not registered. Extension of Acts regarding re-registration. (3 & 4 Vict, c. 82.) (18 & 19 Vict, c. 15.) Effect of registry and re-registry and extension of 18 & 19 Vict, c. 15, s. 11. Power to the court to order vacation of lis pendens. 30 & 31 Vict, c. 47, s. 2. Mode of making application to the court. 30 & 31 Vict, c. 47, s. 2. Entry of discharge by Land Officer. 30 & 31 Vict, c. 47, s. 2. Deposit of deeds, etc., in Land Office for safe custody. Penalty on officers for wilful neglect. Penalty for destroying memorial, etc., with intent to defraud. Vertification of correction in memorial of registry. 23 of 1938, s. 2. Fees 9 of 1950, Schedule. 37 of 1950, Schedule.

Originally 3 of 1844. Fraser 1 of 1844. 23 of 1938. 40 of 1948. 9 of 1950. 37 of 1950. Short title. Establishment of Land Office for registration of instruments affecting land. Priority of registered instruments; effect of non-registration. Notice of unregistered instrument not to affect registered instrument. Period within which instruments to be registered after execution. Delivery into Land Office of memorial of instrument to be registered. Vertification of memorial. 9 of 1950, Schedule. Particulars to be contained in memorial. Schedule. Numbering receipt for, and indorsement of certificate on memorial. [s. 9 cont.] Registration and custody of memorial. Indices of land registered and of parties to instruments. Entry of satisfaction of mortgage or judgment and registration of certificate of satisfaction. Contents, vertification, and custody of certificate of satisfaction of mortgage or judgment. 9 of 1950, Schedule. Application to lis pendens. (2 & 3 Vict, c. 11) Particulars to be contained in memorial. Case of lis pendens not registered. Extension of Acts regarding re-registration. (3 & 4 Vict, c. 82.) (18 & 19 Vict, c. 15.) Effect of registry and re-registry and extension of 18 & 19 Vict, c. 15, s. 11. Power to the court to order vacation of lis pendens. 30 & 31 Vict, c. 47, s. 2. Mode of making application to the court. 30 & 31 Vict, c. 47, s. 2. Entry of discharge by Land Officer. 30 & 31 Vict, c. 47, s. 2. Deposit of deeds, etc., in Land Office for safe custody. Penalty on officers for wilful neglect. Penalty for destroying memorial, etc., with intent to defraud. Vertification of correction in memorial of registry. 23 of 1938, s. 2. Fees 9 of 1950, Schedule. 37 of 1950, Schedule.

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