The Gazette 1952-1955

well as to attend to the strictly legal aspects of a transaction. I f the present application is granted, solicitors’ fees on the sale o f property by public auction will still be less than the fees received by auctioneers. The increases sought in solicitors’ fees will affect only the larger sales, as the fees on sales o f £1,000 or less will be unchanged and the additional fees for sales up to £3,000 will be relatively small. It has been the experience of the profession that the amount of work imposed on solicitors in connection with purchases of registered land where there is a full investigation of title to enable equities to be discharged is very much greater than in the case o f purchases o f “ unregistered ” land where the title is registered in the Registry o f Deeds. The officials o f the Land Registry, who are responsible for safeguarding the public purse against claims for compensation, arising from mistakes in title or registration, are rigorous in their requirements as to proof of title, and are frequently unwilling to accept risks which would be accepted by an ordinary purchaser in the open market on the advice o f his solicitor. An additional burden is imposed on solicitors dealing with the extremely strict requirements o f the Land Registry rules. Rule 242(1) (i) ( b ) o f the rules of 1937 provides that the scale commission shall cover all charges in connection with the cancellation o f the notice of equities. This involves a great deal o f correspon­ dence and work which is not done in the case o f sales outside the Land Registry. 2. Costs o f sales and purchases o f registered land where equities have been discharged, and of sales and purchases where the property has a note o f equities that may be cancelled after the limited investigation o f title prescribed by Rules 35 and 36 o f the Rules o f 1937. Under the present rules the costs o f the Solicitors for vendor and purchaser in these cases are one- half o f the charges on the commission scale in Part 1, Schedule 1, S.R.G.O., 1884, as amended. The following table shows the present rates of commission :— (i)

The submission of the Council is that these charges should be a uniform rate o f 3% on the entire purchase money instead o f the present rate of 2% on the first £1,000, descending to 7s. 6d.% on the portion o f the purchase money exceeding £10,000. The reasons in support o f a uniform rate o f commission have been mentioned in paragraph one. It is submitted that, in addition to the adoption o f a uniform rate o f commission, the scale applicable to cases where equities have been discharged should be 75% instead o f the present 50% o f the full scale fee. In many counties throughout the country equities have now been discharged on a great number o f holdings and the time will come when equities will have been discharged on all registered land. The effect o f the reduction o f 50% in the scale fee has been severely felt in its effect on solicitors’ remuneration, and will be felt more severely as the years go by. It is pointed out that auctioneers’ commission is not affected by this reduction. A solicitor is not absolved from the duty to investigate the title merely by reason o f the fact that the equity note has been cancelled. Reference is made to Keelan v. Garvey (1925, I.L.T .R . 1). In that case it was held that, notwithstanding the fact that the defendant had been registered as full owner and that the equity note had been cancelled, she was in fact a trustee for the plaintiff, and that the register would have to be rectified. The fact that the equity note has been cancelled does not, therefore, obviate the necessity o f further enquiries being made if there is reason to suspect that the vendor may be only a trustee, and there is a serious responsibility on the solicitors acting for both vendor and purchaser in such a case. It is believed that vendors and purchasers o f registered land would not find the proposed alterations in the scale fee onerous, and it is submitted that the suggested reduction o f 25 % oh the full scale would be fair and reasonable. Apart from the foregoing, it will be borne in mind that transactions on the registered title can be o f a complex nature, in particular where they arise under a series of settlements. In ,such instances it is the practice o f the Registrar to limit the entry in the Folio and to protect contingent interests by an inhibition. The examination o f the deeds lying behind the short entry in the Folio will involve the purchaser’s solicitor in work no less arduous than that o f an ordinary purchase of land registered “ subject to equities.” The following sample requisition from the Land Registry prior to the making o f an entry will help to illustrate this : “ The effect o f the original Settlement herein is to give a life interest in the property to the above- named registered owner with a contingent fee

M For the second and third £1,000

( 3 ) For the fourth and each subsequent £i,oco up to £ io ,o c o

( 4 )

For the first £ 1,0 0 0

For each subsequent £i,oco

Vendor’s and Purchaser’s Solicitor

£2- 7s. 6d. per £100 per £ 10 0 per £100 per £100 £ 1 IOS. 15s.

Mortgagee’s

£ 1 IOS.

15s.

7s. 6d.

£ *

Solicitor

per £100 per £100 per £100 per £ ico

/