The Abolition of Certificates of Title

On 11 October 2021, some significant changes to the Land Title system in NSW will be introduced which will introduce NSW as a 100% e-conveyancing system.

Author: Rachael Parr

10 September 2021

From 11 October 2021, existing Certificates of Title (“CTs”) will be cancelled and will no longer be issued. This means that those who pay off their mortgage will not receive a hard copy CT as was traditionally the case.

Further, existing CTs will not be required to have a dealing or plan lodged for registration.

How will this impact landowners?

There are 3 key changes that will impact landowners from 11 October 2021: –

1. Those who pay off their mortgage will not receive a Certificate of Title;
2. A purchaser of a property, without the need for a mortgage (cash buyer) will not receive a Certificate of Title; and
3. When a plan of subdivision is registered and new parcels of land are created, CTs will no longer be issued for those parcels of land.

Rather than the requirement for a CT, an Information Notice will be issued which will confirm the dealings registered and date of registration.

Do landowners need to do anything?

Landowners without a mortgage who have a CT do not have to do anything before or after 11 October 2021. From that date, the CT will no longer be a legal document.

Landowners with a CT that plan to do anything with their land in the next 6 months should hold onto the CT, even after 11 October 2021. This is because a transaction may start before this date but will not be finalised.

For those landowners that own property without a mortgage but have another person or organisation holding onto their CT, they may wish to request to have it back.

From 11 October 2021, there will no longer be a remedy for landowners to recover their Certificate of Title under the Real Property Act 1900. This is because the CT will no longer have any legal effect.

Changes to conveyancing

From 11 October 2021, licensed conveyancers and lawyers will no longer need to ask their clients for their CT when acting on a sale or when lodging a dealing for registration.

Further, there are many lawyers and licensed conveyancers that are holding CTs on behalf of their clients. When the CTs are cancelled, some firms may wish to seek instructions from their clients as to how they should deal with the CTs, i.e., return it to the client, destroy it, or do nothing. All are viable options, and each firm should consider them carefully.

If it is the case that a firm is considering destroying a CT, it is recommended that instructions are sought from the client in the first instance. Despite the CT no longer being a legal document, it is still a client’s personal property and should be treated as such.

Contact the ALG team on (02) 4220 7100 or by email at lawyers@alg.com.au to book a free half-hour initial consultation to find out more how these changes to conveyancing in NSW may affect you.

Learn More