Can’t find the original paper Certificate of Title for your property? Not to worry, the title can be located or replaced by the Victorian titles’ office.
What is a Certificate of Title?
A Certificate of Title is the official record of who has interest and rights over a piece of land.
The Title is required to be produced when selling or transacting with your property.
What’s the recovery process?
First, we need to obtain a title search to determine if the title is paper or electronic, and which entity controls or possesses it.
If it is electronic, then it isn’t lost! It just means it is an electronic Certificate of Title currently held by a PEXA subscriber. You can simply ask that subscriber to electronically transfer your title to your chosen subscriber (such as a lawyer’s office).
If the title is in a paper format, the title search will indicate who held the original Certificate of Title last. We will reach out to any former lawyer or conveyancer, bank or lender, on your behalf to locate the original Certificate of Title. You should also check any safety deposit boxes and safe custody envelopes, or anywhere you keep important documents.
What happens if we cannot uncover the original paper Certificate of Title?
If this process does not uncover the physical title, a legal professional can prepare and collect documentation for a lost title application on your behalf.
For the application, we will need to prepare a statutory declaration, detailing what happened to the original title after it was issued by Land Use Victoria, whether the property owners have done their best to locate the missing title, and request for a new title to be issued.
The statutory declaration is then submitted through PEXA, and the new title is generally issued within days.
What if there is a mortgage on the title?
If there is a mortgage on the title then the title is usually held by the lender.
Alternatively, if there is no mortgage on the title, then you may have had possession of the original paper title. It is important for you to keep a paper title safe as you will need it to:
- sell your land,
- transfer your land, or
- obtain a mortgage
Note that many states no longer issue paper titles. For example, from 3 August 2024 all properties sold in Victoria will no longer be issued a new title with the purchaser’s names. All titles going forward will be held electronically by a PEXA subscriber.
W Legal Group can help!
Contact W Legal Group via phone or email and our team can assist you with locating your original title, or lodging an application for a new title in place of a lost one.
