WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY WHEN YOU LOSE/DAMAGE YOUR TITLE DEED?

Regulation 68(1) of the Deeds Registry Act 47 of 1937 specifically states the following:

“If any deed conferring title to land or any interest therein or any real right, or any registered lease or sub-lease or registered cession thereof or any mortgage or notarial bond, is lost or destroyed and a copy is required for any purpose other than one of those mentioned in either of the last two preceding regulations, the registered holder thereof or his duly authorised agent may make written application for such copy, which application shall be accompanied by an Affidavit describing the deed and stating that it has not been pledged and it is not being detained by any one as security for debt or otherwise, but that it has been actually lost or destroyed and cannot be found though diligent search has been made therefor, and further setting forth where possible the circumstances under which it was lost or destroyed: Provided that where a Registrar is satisfied that any deed mentioned in this paragraph has been inadvertently lost, destroyed, defaced or damaged by him, it shall , notwithstanding the provisions of sub-regulation 2, be competent for him to issue a copy thereof free of charge upon submission of an application and affidavit by the relevant conveyancer or person contemplated in section 15A(2)”

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?

Step 1: Diligently search for your Title Deed (On the first page of your Title Deed it will
reflect an original number endorsed on it and on the last page of the Title Deed it will
have a watermark/embossment);

Step 2: If you cannot locate your Title Deed to the property notify your Conveyancer (If your
property is bonded the Title Deed is in all likelihood in safe keeping with the bank.);

Step 3: Your Conveyancer will draft an Application and Affidavit that you must sign in the
presence of the Conveyancer;

Step 4: Your Conveyancer will send a copy of the Application and Affidavit to the Registrar
of Deeds and obtain a copy of the Title Deed in order for the Title Deed to be
endorsed as a lost Title Deed better known as a “Verlore Akte”;

Step 5: Once the Conveyancer receives a copy of the Title Deed the Conveyancer will need
to place a notice of the lost Title Deed in a local newspaper.

The newspaper publication has to state the following:

• Notice is given in terms of Regulation 68 of the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937;
• The owner intends to apply for the issue of a certified copy of the Title Deed;
• The Title Deed number, the sellers names, the buyers names, identity numbers and marital status;
• The property description of the property and the extent of of the property;
• That the Title Deed has been lost;
• The notice calling upon all interested persons having objections to the issue of such copy of the Title Deed are required to lodge same in writing with the Deeds Registry within two weeks from the date of the publication of the notice; and
• The Conveyancers information who published the lost Title Deed.

Simultaneously when the notice reflects in the publication a copy of the
Application and Affidavit, together with the copy of the Title Deed will lay open for
inspection at the Deeds Registry for two weeks.

Step 6: Once the two weeks has lapsed and no objections has been raised the
Conveyancer can then proceed to lodge the Application and Affidavit in terms of
Regulation 68(1) of the Deeds Registry Act 47 of 1937 with the Deeds Registry together with a Conveyancers Certificate and the original publication from the newspaper to have the lost deed/verlore akte issued. (The Application and Affidavit will also be examined by 3 levels of examiners at the Deeds Registry before the lost Title Deed will be issued. After the publication, and without any objections raised, it will take approximately 7 to 10 working days for the issuing of the lost Title Deed. Once the lost Title Deed has been issued the Deeds Registry will issue it with a lost deed/verlore akte number.)

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO REPLACE A TITLE DEED?

In total it takes approximately 4 to 6 weeks to have a Title Deed replaced. (In a normal Transfer process the replacement of the Title Deed will usually take place simultaneously with the transfer of ownership to a new buyer.)

At time of print, the cost relating to a Title Deed replacement, amounts to approx. R6 000.00. We at Miltons Matsemela offer a system called MM Vault where our clients can safely keep their Title Deeds in our Vaults indefinitely for a minimal once off fee of R950.00.