Title Registration Research Articles

Real Estate Market in the RF in January-April 2014

In January-April 2014, 231,100 apartments with floorspace of 17.9m sq. meters which amounts to 127% on the respective period of 2013. In Q1 2014, the average actual cost of building of 1 sq. meter of residential housing rose by 12.52% as compared to Q1 2013 and amounted to Rb 39,290. The ratio between the price of 1 sq. meter of housing on the primary market and the cost of building of 1 sq meter of housing decreased within the same period by 12.64 p.p. and amounted to 127.09%. In Q 1 2014, the volume of registration of titles of individuals to land plots (1.26m certificates) rose by 0.87% as compared to Q1 2013. In January-April 2014, Rb 496.2bn worth of 291824 mortgage housing loans (MHL) was extended which values exceeded the number and the monetary value of MHL extended in the respective period of 2013 by 37.92% and 45.47%, respectively. A drop in the monthly average rate on MHL in rubles in March 2014 changed for a 0.3 p.p. increase to 12.3% in April.

Review of the Russian Economic Legislation in July 2014

In July, the following amendments were introduced in the legislation: amendments concerning the electronic signature; the effective date of the Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation on issues of state registration of titles to real property was postponed; the per capita minimum subsistence level rose by 5% in Russia in Q1 2014.

Land Tenure System: Women’s Access to Land in a Cosmopolitan Context

Land tenure is a concept that looks at how people gain access to land and how they make use of it. In various African societies, there are cases where women's land ownership is complicated by the gender ideology that women should not own property, particularly land and housing. Women who own property tend to be stereotyped as self-assertive and unruly, and therefore not marriage worthy. This study utilized primary data and combined quantitative and qualitative methods in analyzing the data collected. Focused group discussions (FGDs) were also organized as a source of qualitative information to support the quantitative data. Findings from the research are that there is an increase in net registration of titles to land by males over the period, compared to a reduction in females registering titles. There is a gender difference in the number of plots owned by males and females. Males owned more plots of land as compared to females. While the majority of male respondents directly negotiated for their land purchases, it was more usual for females to use male intermediaries in an effort to prevent being duped by predominantly male land sellers. Recommendation from the study is that equal inheritance rights to land should be guaranteed to both men and women.

Land Transactions and Chieftaincies in Southwestern Togo

Land access is becoming a crucial issue in many African contexts, where groups and individuals are coping with land scarcity and increasing competition over resources. Based on fieldwork carried out in the southwestern region of Togo, this paper explores the plurality and adaptability of the forms of land access that have historically emerged from changing economic and political landscapes characterized by the rise and the decline of cocoa cultivation. Moreover, it analyses the current strategies (from manipulation of group membership and land title registration to renegotiation of previous sharecropping agreements) subjects in asymmetrical power relations use to reinforce or contest rights over land in a context of rising social tensions.

Characteristics of the International Model of Land Title Registration Illuminated by Comparative Study of the German and Torrens Systems

Characteristics of the International Model of Land Title Registration Illuminated by Comparative Study of the German and Torrens Systems

Insecurity of Secure Land Tenure - Case of Service Tenure formalization in Sri Lanka

The government of Sri Lanka has recognized the title registration as a tool against insecure land tenure. However, global experience reveals that success of such projects depends on several factors. As such, it is of primary importance for the country to investigate the effectiveness of title registration in providing secure land tenure under the local conditions. With the above mentioned background, the objective of the paper is to investigate the effectiveness of title registration in Sri Lanka in areas where service tenure exists. Service tenure system is one of the very complex tenure systems in Sri Lanka and thus allows a better judgment of the effectiveness of the title registration. A case study method was adopted to investigate the service tenure system. An identified analytical framework from a wide literature survey has been used to analyse the service tenure system. The outcome of the study reveals that most of the land tenure insecurity is caused by institutional inconsistencies and also that focusing on individual titling alone would not eliminate these inconsistencies. Key words: Land Tenure; Title Registration; Property Rights; Institutions DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/suslj.v9i1.3740 Sabaramuwa University Journal, Volume 9 Number 1; December 2010, pp 133-145

The application of the social tenure domain model (STDM) to family land in Trinidad and Tobago

Family land is a form of communal tenure found in some of the countries of the English-speaking Caribbean inclusive of Trinidad and Tobago. It has been problematic to administer, is sometimes the source of land conflict and litigation, it has been seen as the cause of many land-related problems such as land degradation and fragmentation, and has therefore been targeted for eradication by land title registration programmes. Informal occupation of many years standing on state and private land is also widespread in Trinidad and Tobago. Recording the existence of these extant extralegal but legitimate rights would go a long way to improving the land administration and the security of tenure on these lands. The Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) is a logical and structured standard format for describing the land–human relationship, using an ontology that would allow for sharing of understanding, data and, eventually, software among jurisdictions. This standard is being developed, but has not as yet been finalised, by a technical committee of the ISO (The International Organization for Standardization). The Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM) is a refinement of the LADM, also being developed by ISO, related to describing more nuanced tenure and land administration components and arrangements that do not fit into the more general descriptions within the LADM, such as customary tenure and informal settlements. This paper charts a preliminary investigation into the applicability of the STDM descriptions to the particular land tenure situations of Trinidad and Tobago and to other countries in the Caribbean in which family land and other informal tenure forms are found. Describing these rights using the standard would then allow for the communication and understanding of the tenure situation and should support the eventual recordation of these rights.

Linking Title Registration in Kenya to Vision 2030: The Need for Review of Land Law

This paper argues for the proper recognition of land as one of the main pillars for the realisation of Vision 2030. This is does by looking at the significance of land to development from three different perspectives which touch on various sectors of the economy in Kenya ranging from development of infrastructure to anchoring the tourism sector on a sustainable basis to promotion of agricultural production to use of title to land to access credit. This paper argues that the foregoing aspects of development rely heavily on the title registration in Kenya and calls for reforms.The three different perspectives of argument relate to the power of the state to access cheap land for development of infrastructure through the concept of compulsory acquisition while still retaining the procedural guarantees. The second perspective proceeds on the basis of the utility of the certainty of title registration regime in procuring reliability in terms of development while the third perspective proposes reform of land management practices.

Developing A One Stop Shop Model For Integrated Land Information Management

In Ghana much attention has not been given to the development of land information system which will integrate the data on land ownership, land use and land value for all the land agencies under the land administration system to facilitate the processing of applications within the land delivery systems. This situation presents a lot of delays and inefficiencies in delivering land services to the investor and other potential clients of land sector agencies involved in the land administration practised in Ghana. This paper describes the development of a one stop shop model for integrating information on the attributes of a parcel and their accessibility. A cross sectional survey was conducted in six land sector agencies in Kumasi on data formats, standards and accessibility in provision of land delivery services to their clients. The results of the survey were then used to design a client server application based on a one stop shop concept to integrate the parcel attribute information. The client server application was designed with Microsoft SQL Server 2000, VB.Net 2005 and Microsoft Visio. A Land Management Key (LANMANK) program was finally developed with geodatabase capabilities for storing and displaying spatial data as well as other non-spatial data. LANMANK has a unique parcel identifier for land transactions such as land transfers, title registration, property rating, building and development permits processing. Also, it allows the user to create back ups for the database and also restore the database at a later date.

The English Law on Adverse Possession: A Tale of Two Systems

This paper discusses the divergence in the operation of the doctrine of adverse possession which the Land Registration Act 2002 brings about, resulting in a separate approach to registered and unregistered land. The Law Commission justified the new dichotomy by explaining that while adverse possession runs counter to the fundamental concept of indefeasibility which is a feature of registered title, its role in encouraging the owner of land to guard possession is fully compatible with the unregistered title system which is based on possession. It also noted that the doctrine plays a vital role in the investigation of title to unregistered land and concluded that making the requirements for adverse possession of unregistered land too demanding could weaken the security of title to that land. Section II of this paper investigates claims that the doctrine of adverse possession is at odds with principles of title registration. Section III examines the role played by possession and adverse possession in the unregistered conveyancing system. It is submitted that the reasons adduced by the Law Commission for restricting the reforms of the doctrine to registered land do not hold up under scrutiny. Once this is acknowledged, it becomes necessary to consider whether the reforms could be extended to unregistered land in a manner which would not raise concerns about the functionality of the unregistered conveyancing system or the reliability of the Land Register once first registration has occurred. The marketable title legislation which operates in the US illustrates how title defects that may not be revealed by a standard investigation of title may be eliminated without reliance on the doctrine of adverse possession. If England were to borrow the basic premise behind the US approach, requiring the registration of certain older interests in order to preserve their validity, an extension of the veto system to unregistered owners could be contemplated. The paper concludes by discussing the advantages of introducing such reform and suggesting solutions for certain practical difficulties which it would raise.

Securing land and property rights in sub-Saharan Africa: The role of local institutions

Central governments have neither the capacity nor the local knowledge to implement a just, large-scale national land registration system. Support to local institutions to undertake intermediate forms of land registration has been shown to be far more effective in many places—although these need careful checks on abuses by powerful local (and external) interests, measures to limit disputes (too many of which can overwhelm any institution) and measures to ensure that the needs of those with the least power – typically women, migrants, tenants and pastoralists – are given due weight. These locally grounded systems can also provide the foundation for more formal registration systems, as needs and government capacities develop. Even if there are the funds and the institutional capacity to provide formal land title registration to everyone in ways that are fair and that recognize local diversity and complexity, and could manage disputes, this may often not be needed. For the vast majority of people, cheaper, simpler, locally grounded systems of rights registration can better meet their needs for secure tenure.

Reconciling Cadastral Records in a Dual Land Registration System in Ghana

Soon after gaining independence, the Ghana government adopted a deed registration system for recording land ownership. A legislative instrument supported this decision. The deficiencies of the deed registration system resulted in innumerable cases of land ownership disputes. Juxtaposed with the official registration system is the customary land tenure system, which authorized custodians of the stool lands to allocate parcels through the customary process. Because the customary system did not mandate documentary evidence of the transaction, the allocation process created situations where the same parcel of land was allocated to multiple owners. The weaknesses in the two systems engendered lucrative, illegal and unrecorded land market activities. With increasing population and associated competing interests in available land, it became imperative for the government to review the existing legislation for recording and maintaining records of land parcel ownership. A new legislation was promulgated, based on a land title registration system. While efforts are being made to improve the customary land allocation process, the new legislation seeks to remove the deficiencies in the deed registration system. The introduction of the title registration system has resulted in a duality of the record keeping process. Efforts are currently under way to remove the inconsistencies in the deed records and to reconcile them with those that have been obtained through the title registration system. This paper reviews the cadastral surveying activities and the processes for recording land titles in Ghana in view of existing laws. Experiences in developing procedures for reconciling the records from the two systems are also discussed. Keywords: Cadastral survey, land records, land tenure, registration, survey regulation Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 28 (1) 2008 pp. 128-135

Customary vs Private Property Rights? Dynamics and Trajectories of Vernacular Land Markets in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Contemporary discourse on land in Africa is polarized between advocates of tenure reform through state registration of individual titles to land and others who claim that customary or ‘communal’ tenure is the only check against landlessness among the poor in the African countryside, and that ‘pro‐poor’ land policy should therefore strengthen customary rights to land. This paper draws on a growing body of evidence on the emergence of vernacular rural land sales and rental markets to question assumptions that underlie the non‐market ‘ideal type’ communal tenure model that has historically dominated policy thinking in Africa, and continues to be shared by both sides of the current land tenure reform debate. The paper argues that recognition of the specific characteristics of ‘vernacular land markets’– commoditized transfers of land within the framework of customary tenure – is essential if state land policies are to succeed in promoting the interests of the poor.

Neo-customary title registration in informal settlements: The case of Blantyre, Malawi

This paper contributes to debates on neo-customary land management by exploring whether title registration alters land transaction behaviour and housing investment by shifting people's perceptions of property rights and feelings of security. Title registration had limited impact on transaction and investment behaviour in the case study of an informal settlement in Blantyre, Malawi. Everyone made use of the informal system of registering transactions with the local headman, while the new formal registration system is marginal and of real interest only to those with substantial investments. The persistence of the informal system is the consequence of the social support structure embedded in it. The informal system is up to date, has credibility and transparency, gives more security to wives and children, is a guarantee of burial rights, and is a natural input to dispute and conflict settlement. Policy makers should take up an 'adaptation' paradigm for tenure and transfer registration incorporating the cultu...

Rehousing and Refinancing Russia: Creating Access to Affordable Mortgaging

THE HOUSING SECTOR PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE in every country's economy, acting as a potential tool for sustaining and promoting overall welfare and development. In Russia, however, housing investment constitutes only 3-4% of GDP. As a result the housing sector, and its financing, require urgent restructuring in order to cope with the depreciation of stock and infrastructure networks that has resulted from a dependence on public subsidisation. Indeed, the large-scale and pervasive under-pricing of inputs in what is collectively referred to as the 'housing and communal sector' generates problems with maintaining financial viability in both the provision of housing and utility services, further encouraging flows of subsidy transfers.1 The impact of high subsidies is reflected in the fact that Russian households on average spend only about 6% of their income on housing and utility services, a figure much lower than in the transition countries of Eastern Europe.2 Local governments continue to assume prime responsibility for the housing and communal sector, managing and maintaining virtually all of the housing stock.3 Numerous housing reform initiatives have been introduced during the past decade, all with the intention of moving this sector to a more market-oriented system. All households located in state and municipally owned multi-apartment blocks became the subjects of this reform, as residents were granted the right to privatise free of charge the flat they were occupying.4 Most crucially, it was assumed that together with this transfer of ownership title the new owners would take over the management and maintenance of the housing stock." However, no real incentives have existed for households to privatise, as rents and utilities are highly subsidised, and housing management and maintenance are still provided by municipal enterprises.6 When considering how to construct mechanisms for the resolution of this problem the development of a system of mortgage financing is integral. It embodies the utilisation of property rights by owners to reorganise their property and to exercise this right to benefit from any appreciation in the value of the property whilst taking on responsibility for the property itself. In the present housing structure the majority of the new middle class still live in mixed-tenure housing. If they privatise their flats they enjoy capital appreciation, while public finance takes responsibility for the fabric of the building. The provision of appropriate incentives, such as subsidised and accessible

The Need for Boundary Adjustments in the Proposed Hong Kong Title Registration Bill

The proposed Hong Kong Land Title Registration system does not include provisions for the variation in boundary location or remedying any discrepancies in the boundary locations of a land parcel. The practicalities of land administration require some means of boundary adjustment (or repair) in any land system, including registered title. This is so notwithstanding that there appears to be an inherent contradiction in allowing one of the possible mechanisms (part parcel adverse possession) in a registered title system. This paper argues that a modern LIS (including the proposed Hong Kong registered land system) should include such a mechanism. It is even suggested that failure to provide for boundary repair merely postpones the inevitable adoption of such provisions. Of the possible mechanisms it is concluded that an alternative to adverse possession, statutory encroachment, is preferable to part parcel adverse possession. A further suggestion is that provisions for statutory encroachment be included within the proposed HK Title Registration Bill with the proviso that the provision be repealed if left unused.

PRIVATE PROPERTY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF GERMAN REAL PROPERTY LAW

Comparative Law The concept of absolute private property - by which an owner can do whatever he wishes with what belongs to him - has been attacked in many ways, but no challenge undermines it as severely as the awareness of continuing environmental degradation in virtual contempt of sustainable development. Throughout the twentieth century and into our own era, legal property rights have time and time again been successfully invoked by polluters and others interested in evading ecological imperatives. However, most jurists today would agree that the internationally acknowledged necessity for land use to be administered in ecologically sustainable ways is plainly a principle that should be harmonized across national boundaries. This remarkable new book is not a radical text, but seeks to find a concept of responsible proprietorship in our existing legal systems. And in fact it presents an excellent case for the universal adoption of the real property provisions of the German civil code, with their roots in the Hanseatic model and counterparts in the Australian Torrens system that pervaded the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century on. In great detail, the author demonstrates that this system offers a firm foundation on which a truly responsible environmental law of property can be established. For Professor Raff, the key to responsible proprietorship can be found in the land title registration system embodied in the German real property provisions - a system which is indeed already the globalizing trend. Although its ostensible rationale is that of certainty in land transactions, Raff shows that the land title registration obligation necessarily creates responsibility of the owner for the land, thus opening a juridical avenue to environmental imperatives. Land title registration is also far more likely to find common ground with local or indigenous systems than old European ideas of inheritance and equity. In this connection, Professor Raff's comparative law methodology is functional, emphasising what local norms and customs have in common rather than how they differ. Private Property and Environmental Responsibility offers a rigorous and persuasive approach to a major current issue that finds, through the legitimate processes of legal reasoning within our own existing systems, viable solutions to the unprecedented environmental problems posed by our technological age. It is a seminal work that will be valued and consulted for decades to come by environmentally-conscious lawyers at every level of national and international law.

A Transaction-Cost View of Title Insurance in Different Legal Systems

This article outlines a transaction cost theory of 'title insurance' and analyses the role it plays in countries with recording and registration of land titles. Title insurance indemnifies real estate right holders for losses caused by pre-existing title defects that are unknown when the policy is issued. It emerged to complement the 'errors and omissions' insurance of professionals examining title quality. Poor organization of public records led title insurers in the USA to integrate title examination and settlement services. Their residual claimant status motivates insurers to screen, cure and avoid title defects. Firms introducing title insurance abroad produce little information on title quality, however. Their policies are instead issued on a casualty basis, complementing and enforcing the professional liability of conveyancers. Future development in markets with land registration is uncertain because of adverse selection, competitive reactions from established conveyancers and the ability of larger banks to self-insure title risks.

A Transaction Cost View of Title Insurance and its Role in Different Legal Systems

This article outlines a transaction cost theory of “title insurance” and analyses the role it plays in countries with recording and registration of land titles. Title insurance indemnifies real estate right holders for losses caused by pre-existing title defects that are unknown when the policy is issued. It emerged to complement the “errors and omissions” insurance of professionals examining title quality. Poor organization of public records led title insurers in the U.S. to integrate title examination and settlement services. Their residual claimant status motivates insurers to screen, cure and avoid title defects. Firms introducing title insurance abroad produce little information on title quality, however. Their policies are instead issued on a casualty basis, complementing and enforcing the professional liability of conveyancers. Future development in markets with land registration is uncertain because of adverse selection, competitive reactions from established conveyancers and the ability of larger banks to self–insure title risks.

The Ninth Joint Conference on Risk and Insurance of the Geneva Association and the European Association of Law and Economics

The ninth joint Geneva Association and EALE Conference was held in Copenhagen in April 2001. The main theme of the conference was: how should society cope with risk: through public regulation or through private liability? However, as organizers we were also willing to accept papers that dealt in some other way with risk, uncertainty, liability and insurance, and with the handling of these by the legal system. However, the papers printed here, which constitute a little less than half the papers presented at the conference, can be said to deal with issues that are central to the main theme. Benito Arrunada’s paper, ‘‘A Transaction-Cost View of Title Insurance and its Role in Different Legal Systems’’deals with title insurance. Public registration of title to property is less developed, and as a consequence, (privately provided) title insurance is taken out to a much greater degree in the U.S. than in Europe. In the U.S., it is taken out in 85 per cent of all real estate transactions while the proportion is much smaller in Europe. Title insurance serves not only to eliminate a risk for the buyer of real estate but also to render mortgage-based lending more secure, and mortgages more liquid. Arrunada explains how the insurers in the U.S. have undertaken activities other than insurance in order to lower the risk of defective titles. The insurers thus keep their own title files and in general spend resources on examining the validity of title. They also spend resources on closing transactions properly to avoid future conflicts over title. Addressing the conference’s main theme, Arrunada observes that (in the U.S.) only 7 per cent of the insurance premium reflects the risk of defective title and that the insurers are mainly paid to avoid risk, not to bear it. As Arrunada stresses, by bearing the risk, the insurer signals that it is essentially absent, thereby lowering ‘‘transaction costs’’. From a ‘‘theory of the firm’’ perspective, Arrunada’s paper also contains some interesting observations. For example, he observes that the complementarity of the tasks described above – risk bearing, examination of title, and closing of transactions – has led to their vertical integration (i.e., it is often the case that a firm performs all of these tasks). Henrik Lando’s paper ‘‘When is the Preponderance of the Evidence Standard Optimal?’’ raises a general legal issue: how certain should a court be before convicting a defendant? Naturally, the strictness of the standard of proof is important for the effectiveness of any legal rule, and (returning to the theme of the conference) differences in standards applied in tort versus public (or criminal) law are important in the comparison between private and public control of risk. While the question of the optimal standard of proof is often discussed in terms of