In our Newsflash of 29 January we notified of amendments to regulation 68 of the Deeds Registries Act which would have brought about an onerous application process in the event of title deeds and/or bonds having been lost. Those amendments were to have been effective from 25 February 2019.
The amendments in question were reconsidered by the Deeds Registries Regulation Board at a meeting held on the 19th of February 2019. At that meeting the Board resolved to suspend, until further notice, the implementation of the above mentioned amendments to regulation 68 for the following reasons:
The amendment to regulation 68(1) in respect of lost title deeds, provides for the attestation of an affidavit by notaries public only. This however, on reconsideration, is impractical and may cause undue hardship to the public.The insertion of regulations 68(1E)(a) to (c) provide for publication in a Government Gazette. However, Government Gazettes are not widely read and the Board has therefore decided to amend regulation 68(1E)(a) to provide for publication in a newspaper circulating in the area in which the property is situated, and not in a Government Gazette.The amendment of regulation 68(11) in respect of lost mortgage bonds, makes reference to regulation 68(1E), as referred to above. This was an oversight. It was intended that notification of the intention to apply for a certified copy of the bond be published and not notification of the intention to cancel the bond itself.
While the decision to suspend the implementation of the aforementioned amendments abates the urgency relating to obtaining lost title deeds and/or bonds it remains advisable for those who have lost title deeds and/or bonds to proceed to secure copies of those documents in terms of the prevailing application process sooner rather than later.
For assistance, contact our Conveyancers without delay.
