The Gazette 1977

GAZETTE

JULY

permanent residence. Each letter should expressly state that the Bank has no claims on the certificate in question. There can be no general relaxation of Rules relating to the issue of duplicate certificates because of the importance of protecting lenders from unnecessary risks of loss through fraud. An indemnity should also be given to the Registrar in respect of any costs or loss he may suffer by reason of the issue of the new duplicate Land Certificate. Incidentally, where the Land Certificate has been lost in a solicitors office the indemnity seems to be invariably included in the Affidavit of the Registered Owner, and not that of the solicitor — which seems unfair. Applications for the issue of new Land Certificates to replace Land Certificates stated to have been lost or destroyed are increasing greatly in numbers and cause much trouble and delay to all parties. Land Certificates have been the cause of many difficulties and delays in Registration. This is probably why at least one eminent member of the profession has suggested that Land Certificates should be abolished. But the utility of the Land Certificate as a convenient means of raising loans or securing other facilities and its value as some evidence of the owner's Title means that Registered Owners would not willingly see it abolished. Such a change in any case would require amendments to the Act. A solicitor's lien for costs on Land Certificates is a lien on the Certificate and not on the registered property. This lien is not a security which creates a lien on the land as an Equitable Mortgage would. It extends to all costs due by the client, not for any particular transaction, and of course it cannot be greater than the right which the client has over the property. The Land Certificate is a certificate of title so when tenants-in-common are registered each may acquire separate Land Certificates showing his interest. Ownership of a burden is not certified on a Land Certificate. REGISTRY MAPS Sections 84 and 89 of the Act deal with the Registry Maps and the boundaries thereto and the relevant Rules are 174 and 176. The map is fundamental to the whole concept of registration and that it should be accurate and correct is of the utmost importance to applicants and all who deal with registered land. Registered land is described by the names of the denominations on the Ordnance Survey map and by reference to such maps. We have great problems with the older sheets in our office, they go back of course to 1891, most of them are the 6 inch Ordnance Sheets. Ova* the decades they have been constantly handled and used so that many of them are worn or defaced or are almost indecipherable. As we are an office of record, to protect the map and to preserve the value of the registration for future generations we maintain a unit in our Mapping Department which is occupied full time with the restoration and reconstruction of the old sheets. This is very painstaking work and slow but it is essential. The dozen or so menbers of the staff engaged full time on this task would of course be much better employed dealing with current work if we had no thought to the future. We have at all times to strike a balance between expediting and speeding current registration and preserving and keeping our records in the best possible condition. As the aim of the Ordnance Survey is to 104

have eventually only 25 inch sheets covering the whole country and consequently fewer holdings on any one sheet the amount of handling each sheet will be that much less. We also have a machine now which provides a linen backing for the sheets to strengthen and preserve them. We hope that the filed plan system will be extended further which with other advantages has much less handling and wear and tear on the maps. The first County to have the filed plan system in operation is County Carlow. This is nearly completed now. It was a pilot scheme and the lessons learned there should help us when we move into other areas. The metric maps (63 inches to one mile) are coming into general use for Dublin, Cork and Limerick cities and they have the National Grid values printed on them. National Grid values should eventually replace the existing method of referencing properties on the Land Registry maps. Rule 177 deals with the persons who may represent an Infant Under Section 57 of the Succession Act the personal representatives may appoint such persons. If they do not they themselves are the Trustees. Where nobody has been appointed the Registrar has under Rule 178 to appoint a person to represent an infant. Rule 179 deals with persons of unsound mind. Where a person claims a lien by way of equitable mortgage on a document required by an applicant for first registration or conversion of title he may lodge it subject to lien with a claim to the lien in Form 97 signed by himself or his solicitor. This is under Rule 180. We would register the applicant with possessory title and the lien would be protected by Section 72(l)(k). Under Section 94 of the Act, the Registrar has power to require persons who have custody of Deeds or Wills affecting a title to show cause why they should not be produced and, unless satisfactory cause is shown, to order that they be produced. Documents to be retained and filed in the Registry are set out in Rule 181. The Registrar may deliver to a solicitor an instrument dealing with property — other than a charge —on the solicitor certifying that it is required for a hearing in Court or before a Taxing Master or County Registrar for the purposes of a taxation and undertaking in writing to return it within a fixed time, Rule 184. Rules 185, 186 and 187 deal with the transmission of filed documents to the Local Registrar for production in Court. Rule 188 deals with the inspection of filed documents. At one time under various decided cases it seemed that the filed instrument might be inspected by any person. However, the Registry's view is that set out in Mr. McAllister's book. The Rule now limits the right to inspection. No one except those with a genuine interest should be allowed to inspect them. Any person may, of course, inspect the Maps, indexes and the Folios on payment of the prescribed fee. SEARCHES Searches are Official Searches and Priority Searches. Note that in the Priority Search the person requiring the search must already have entered into a contract. A solicitor who obtains a Certificate of the result of the official search is not liable for loss that may arise from any error therein. See Rule 195. # Concluded on page 110.