THE LAND TRANSFER ACT.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVII, Issue 4234, 10 March 1871, Page 3

THE LAND TRANSFER ACT.

TO THE EDIfOll OV TitC " OTA.GO DAILY TIMES." Sir,— The Land Transfer Act, 1870, has now been brought into operation in this provincs, and is attracting a considerable amount of public attention. The most contrary opinions are advancer!, and the most diverse statements are made, with regard to the advantages or supposed advantages conferred by its enactment upon the body of landed proprietors in this colony, the facilities offered for bringing titles under the provisions of the Act, the expense attendant upon, and the time occupied in, the process, &c. I propose in thig communication to attempt to throw some light upon these points, particularly as regards the cost; of placing land under the provisions of the Transfer Act, and a purchaser or mortgagee upon the Begister, in the more ordinary cases of selling or mortgaging a freehold property, the title to which has not yet been brought under the Act. The position of a proprietor, when once his land has been placed under the provisions of the Act, is admitted, I believe, by all to be much better than it would be were his title held iv the usual way, he being able either to transfer, mortgage, or otherwise encumber the land much more cheaply, expeditioualy, and securely than he would otherwise be able to do. His title, also, cannot be called in question. These advantages appear to be generally recognised and admitted; but it ha 3 been said that the first cost of bringing a title under the Act is &o large as in great measure to neutralise them, and that proprietors of land will find it to be less expensive and more advantageous to continue to convey and mortgage their properties in the old way than to bring them under the provisions of the Act. The exhibition of the following account of the expenses attendant upon, the operation of placing land under the provision of the Act, and tha purchase or mortgage upoa the Register, in the case of the aa'.o or mortgage oE freehold property, will tmablo pro pnetora to $vulg<a fur ta.«nsi4ves ia tl«

I ha\ q carried the examples forward to & sscond transaction, in order that the tvfO systems may be fairly compared. FIRST CASE. Sale of Freehold Property, value say £250. (a) Where the title is a grant from the Crown, and tho property has never been encumbered.

(b) When the legal estate is not in the original (that is, -when the land has been conveyed) ; or when tho land has been Ott« cumbered by mortgage, or otherwise. A sells to B.

SECOND CASE. Mortgage of freehold property, value £250, («.) Where the title is a grant from tho Jrown, and the property has never been encumbered. A

(6) When the legal estate is not in tho original grantee (that is, when the land has been conveyed), or when tho land has been encumbered by mortgage or otherwise.

The co&t of every subsequent like transac* tion would be same as above A to C : Mortgage, £1 4s ; discharge, 15s. From these examples, I thinkit must be apparent to proprietors whohave had any experience in buying, selling, or encumbering real property, and the expense attendant upon the rectification of their title, after a transaction, that it is not only to their ultimate bub to their immediate advantage to place their properties under the provisions of the .* and Transfer Act, 1870. It will be noticed th.it the assurance fee must vary with the value of the property, being charged at the rate of .^d in the pound, or 4s. 2d. per cent., and the charge for registration (when the title is other than a Crown grant to applicaut, in which case it is fixed at 25.) is 53. per cent., up to £300, exceeding which sum a fixed charge is made of 20s. In the examples exhibited above the value is supposed to be £250, which brings the assurance fee to 10s. 5d., and the registration fee to 15s. When land has once been brought under the Act, an intending purchaser or mortgagee can easily estimate the costs he will have to pay in connection with any proposed transaction. These are, on conveyance or transfer of land, of whatever value, £2 45., exclusive of stamp duty. And in mortgage, whatever the amount, including the coat of discharge of mortgage at the end of the stipulated pcrio I, £2 9a. These amounts include every ch.vrg3—preparation of forms, execution, ro^trafcion, broker's fees, &c. It will be not.ced that I make the supposition in all thj foregoing examples that land brokers will be employed in tha transaction of the business. I may mention that,after making a careful digest of the Act, I formed the opinion that in"the event of a sale of freehold property the title could be brought under the provisions of the Act, and the legal estate vested in a purchaser free of stamp duty, by the vendor directing a certificate of title to be issued direct to a purchaser, inasmuch as there does not appear to be in thb case an instrument disclose! to which the stamps could properly be affixed. There an bo, however, no doubt that it was the intention of Parliament to levy the duty in ftveiy case in which real property changed hands, and ;that t Government are equitably entitled to pay. ment.—l am, &c, C.

A clergyman, being much pressed by a lady of his acquautance to preach a sermon the first Sunday after her marriage, complied, and chose the following} passage in the Psalms as his text : " And there shall be a' undance of peace, while the moon en« durefcb." Wyoming nurses c*lm the rising generation by singing, " Nicte little baby, doa'fc get in a, i ury t 'c^usq mammal goao ta sife Qa ih& *

A sells to B. Application (directing certificate to issuo to B) £0 6 Form 0 1 Registration 0 2 Assurance fee, <^cl. in the £ ... 0 10 Certificate of title ... ... ... 1 0 Broker's fee 0 10 Total cost of vesting Ic^at estate in purchaser (first transaction) ... £2 8 5 B sol's to C. Forms £0 2 Registration of transfer 0 10 Certificate of title 1 0 Search 0 2 Broker's fee 0 10 Total cost of vesting los;al estate in purchaser (in every subsequent transaction) £2 4 8 0 0 0 0

Application (directing certificate ot title to issue to B) £0 5 0 Form 0 10 .Registration 0 25 0 Assurance fund ... ... ... 0 10 5 Certificate of title 10 0 Advertising (say) 1 II 0 Undertaking not to withdraw application, nor attempt to deal with land bef jro issue of certificate of title 10 0 Broker's fee (depending on state o£ title, say... 10 0 Total cost of vesting legal interest in purchaser, first transaction ... £6 1 5 B sells to C. Cost same aa above £2 4 0

Application to bring laud under the Act £0 5 0 "Registration . 020 Assurance fee ... ... „ 0 10 5 Certificate of title ... ... 1 0 0 Broker's fee for bringing land under the Act 0 10 0 Memorandum of mortgage registration 0 10 0 Forms 0 3 0 Broker's fee on memorandum of mortgage 0 10 0 Total cost of bunging land under the Act, and ot executiuu anil registration of memorandum of mortgage (lirsb transaction) ... £3 10 5 When the time arrives for payment of principal sum and discharge of mortgage, then — ■ I'eglstration of dischaige £0 5 0 Broker's fco 0 10 0 Total cost of discharge of mortgage £0 15 0 A afterwards mortgages to 0. Search £0 2 0 Forma .. 0 2 0 Registration ... .. ... ... 0 10 0 Broker's f 083 0 10 0 Total cost oE mortgage, second transaction £1 4 0 Total cost of discharge of mortgage as above 0 15 0

Application to bring land under the Act £0 5 0 Forma 0 3 0 Registration 0 15 0 Assurance fund 0 10 5 Certificate of title 10 0 Advertising (say) I 10 0 Undertaking not to withdraw application or deal with laud until issue of certificate of title, and to execute memorandum of mortgage 10 0 Broker's feo for bringing the land under the Act (depending onatate of the title) 10 0 Memorandum of mortgage registration 0 10 0 Search 0 2 0 Broker's fee on memo, of mortgage 0 10 0 Total coat of bringing land under the Act, and of execution and registration of memorandum of mortgage £7 5 5 When the time arrives for payment of principal sum and discharge of mortgage, then — Registration of discharge £0 5 0 Broker's fee ... 0 10 0 Total cost of discharge of mortgage £0 15 0