The Gazette 1973

solicitor who registered the mortgage in the Registry of Deeds instead of the Land Registry. All the mortgages are judgment mortgages. The Council on a report from a committee stated that in their opinion the solicitor for the vendor is not entitled to disclose the Registry of Deeds mortgage which does not appear to affect the title without first obtaining the permission of the client. Payment of Land Registry fees A letter was received from the Department of Justice stating that the Minister proposes that in future fees payable to the Land Registry will be accepted in cash by means of money order, postal order or cheque drawn to the order of the Land Registry or alternatively Land Registry stamp. A detailed system is at present being worked out which will be brought into operation as soon as possible. The Secretary on receipt of a letter from members wrote to the Department drawing attention to the inadequacy of the fee of £2.10 for attendance by a solicitor on behalf of a client on a Social Welfare application. It was stated that these applications may last for periods between half an hour and an hour. A reply from the Department is awaited. As far as it is known the fee has never been reviewed. The Council on a report from a committee stated that the fee should be increased to at least £5.25. The committee will con- sider the matter further when a reply is received from the Department of Social Welfare. Estate Duty Office—delays Members complained about delays in making Estate Duty assessments. Some thought that Dublin practi- tioners received priority over country practitioners of having their assessments made on the spot over the counter. The correspondence received from the Estate Duty Office pointed out that the office has always been a public office which means that any member of the public is entitled to come in and have his business transacted. This applies to all solicitors city or country and to the town agents for country solicitors. The Department of Social Welfare—fees payable to solicitors Discussions took place between representatives of the Allied Irish Bank and the Bank of Ireland on the forms of certificate of title used by these banks in the form of a report on the state of the title. The Council take the view that members who are instructed to investigate and report on title for either group should not refuse this work unless for a good reason. As a whole the profession gains by the transfer of this work to the profession provided that the fees received are adequate. The Bank of Ireland use no set form of report but the law agent for the bank asks the solicitor for the borrower to certify that the customer has a good marketable title. The Allied Irish Banks use a detailed form of report on certificate of title drawing the attention of the soli- citor to a number of matters to which answers are required. These are inter alia :

restriction of public callers within the time 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. is intended to leave time for dealing with the cases by post. It was suggested on behalf of the office that it would be better if all public callers made prior appointments as is the position in London, Edinburgh and Belfast. The staff in the office would welcome such a restriction and think it would expedite work as it can be very upsetting at times to put aside a case half dealt with to take up a different case from a public caller. The Council accept that the Estate Duty Office would work more efficiently if public callers were seen by appointment only. It was decided to suggest to mem- bers that such a system should be introduced and brought to the attention of members in the Society's Gazette. Estate Duty—provisional assessments The Secretary had been in communication with the head of the Estate Duty Office about the question of provisional assessments of death duties. It was decided that the Society should request the Department of Finance to meet representatives of the Society with a view to having assessments made on the figures pre- sented in the Inland Revenue Affidavit and schedule of assets leaving any changes in value as the result of subsequent investigation to be dealt with by the correc- tive affidavit. Fees for letting agreements A member asked for information on the scale of fees for letting agreements as opposed to leases. The legal position is that a solicitor is entitled to charge the full commission scale fee under the Solicitors' Remuneration General Orders applicable to a lease at a rack rent. The Council on a report from a committee decided that they would not recommend a fee for these short-term letting agreements. Solicitors should in each case charge a fee that is fair and reasonable having regard to all the circumstances of the case. Land Registry maps On a report from a committee the Council decided to recommend that in all cases the vendor of registered property should furnish the purchaser with a Land Registry map as part of the title. (a) that the property is free from any mortgage, etc.; (b) that there are no leases, sub-leases, etc., other than those disclosed; (c) that searches have been directed in the Registry of Deeds and the Land Registry and satisfactory explana- tions have been obtained; (d) that the solicitor is satisfied from enquiries made that there is no unauthorised development within the meaning of the Planning Acts and that any necessary permissions have been obtained; (e) that the receipt for the last scale of rent has been produced and that there is no evidence of any breach or non-performance by the lessee of any of the cove- nants or conditions; (f) that there is no onerous or restrictive covenant other than those mentioned in the schedule to the

SOLICITORS' REPORTS TO BANKS ON TITLE

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