Individuals, companies and other entities transact with both residential and commercial/industrial property every day. However, what can you do if you realise that:

• Your name/your company’s name is incorrect on the Certificate of Title?
• After your settlement was finalised, it was discovered that a Title was missed by your representative or the transfer was never registered?

If you discover that one of these issues arise for you or your business or organisation, here are the options available to you to resolve the matter.

1. Your details are incorrect of out-of-date on the Title

Quite regularly, our Property team discovers that individuals transact with property and later notice that when they purchased the property, there is a different name on the Title to the name they currently use. For example, a maiden name, a different spelling of their name, or their company name was the original name prior to any changes with ASIC. If this occurs, you may be able to complete an application to Land Victoria for a new folio under section 32 of the Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic). This application enables the “error” or out-of-date information to be corrected in the Register. Depending on what information needs to be updated, Land Victoria may require statutory declarations from the Registered Proprietor(s) or their Director(s) if they are a company, to support the request.

Once Land Victoria reviews this information, and if they are satisfied, a new folio will be issued for your property and the error will be rectified.

2. You discover that a Title was missed at settlement

Unlike the above application, a Title missed at settlement is a more serious issue that individuals and companies can encounter. In the age of electronic conveyancing through PEXA (Property Exchange Australia Ltd), the chance of these errors occurring is arguably lessened (due to the additional electronic checks and balances). However, in historical settings, it is still possible that, for example, your car park title was not transferred across at the settlement or in more extreme circumstances, the paper registration of a transfer from pre-PEXA was never completed.

If a Title is missed at settlement (eg: a separate accessory car park title), this will need to be rectified through a subsequent transfer and duty application. However, even if this discovered many years after the conveyancing was completed, it can still be rectified through PEXA.

3. Registration of the Transfer of Land never occurred

An example of an even more serious situation encountered by our Property team involved the discovery that our client’s prior paper-based property transfer never being registered with Land Victoria. This was despite our client having legal representation at the time, all purchase funds and duty being paid and all parties treating the transaction as at an end. It was only discovered a decade later that the transfer never occurred. Even in this scenario, it is possible to rectify the ownership on that Title (despite the time delay). However, whether this is done with the consent of the Vendor at the time of the initial transfer, by court order, by vesting order under section 47 of the Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic) or by adverse possession (which has additional time requirements and evidence burdens that must be met) will solely depend on the specific factual scenario.

How can we assist at Sharrock Pitman Legal?

At Sharrock Pitman Legal, we will be able to provide timely, concise advice concerning your specific circumstances and be able to guide you about how best to proceed with resolving your property matter. Our Accredited Property Law team will ensure that you understand the options available to you and the costs involved in resolving any issues regarding your Property Certificate of Title that you or your entity may be encountering. Please don’t hesitate to contact us on 1300 205 506 or sp@sharrockpitman.com.au.

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The information contained in this article is intended to be of a general nature only and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Any legal matters should be discussed specifically with one of our lawyers.

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