LAND TITLE DEFECTS

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30235, 13 September 1963, Page 14

LAND TITLE DEFECTS

Bill Allows Remedy (N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON. Sept. 12. A Land Transfer Amendment Bill introduced to Parliament today will allow land subject to the principal act to be acquired by 20 years’ possession where the land has been abandoned by the registered proprietor. It will also allow those who are holding land under a title which has some defect in it to perfect the title. Introducing the measure, the Minister of Justice (Mr Hanan) said that as the law stood, only those who could link themselves with a registered owmer by an acceptable document that could be registered could obtain title.

“Because of this difficulty there are hundreds of cases throughout the Dominion where people are occupying land in the situations outlined without any acceptable remedy." he said. The problem applied particularly in the Thames district in regard to old mining areas, and a special problem existed in Hawke’s Bay, where the land registry records were destroyed in the < 1931- x earthquake. Mr Hanan said the bill did ■not apply to Crown land. Maori land, local authority land, land held in trust for any public purpose, land which had been adversely occupied through the minor divergence of a boundary wall or fence and land which had been occupied through a change of course of a river or stream.

The bill was read a second time, pro forma, and was referred to the Statutes Revision Committee.