First Registration Applications Grounded on Form 1 or Form 2 – Legal Office Notice No. 9 of 2011

Root of Title:

Rule 19(1) of the Land Registration Rules 2012 reflects the current position under the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009. A title, which is presented for first registration, grounded on affidavit in Form 1 or Form 2, should commence with a good root that is at least 15 years old. It is frequently necessary to go further back than 15 years to find a good root of title.

Statement of Title:

Rule 15(3) provides that the Authority shall not be on notice of any matter disclosed in a document which bears a date prior to the date of the document identified as the root of title. The Statement of Title, referred to in Rule 15(1)(a), should, therefore, specifically identify the Deed that is the root of title. If not, it may be taken that the Deed, which is shown in the Statement of Title, as that commencing the title presented, is the root of title. If there is a Deed in the chain of title, which would clearly be a good root, it is open to the Authority in appropriate cases to identify such Deed as the root of the title presented.

In the event that a Statement of Title, identifying the root of title, is not lodged and/or the grounding affidavit does not fully conform to the prescribed Form 1 or Form 2, applications may be rejected or queried

Where in applications, lodged prior to 1st February 2013, the Statement of Title is lodged as a separate document, it should ideally be signed and dated by the solicitor who investigated the title on behalf of the applicant. However, as the applicant is averring to the truth and accuracy of the Statement of Title in paragraph 3 of the Form 1 or Form 2, discretion should be applied before rejecting or querying an application on the grounds that the Statement of Title is unsigned.

Form 1 and Form 2:

Practitioners should note that a new Form 1 and Form 2 are now prescribed by the Land Registration Rules 2012.These Forms should be strictly adhered to. As the new Forms 1 and 2 contain the necessary discovery averments, an affidavit of discovery, (Form 16), should NOT be lodged. The Statement of Title, referred to above, is now incorporated into the Forms 1 and 2 as Part 3 of the Schedule.

Forms 1 and 2 may be viewed on the Authority’s website under Legal and Professional Customers – Legislation or on www.irishstatutebook.ie

Good root of title not forthcoming:

It may occasionally happen, (for example where property has been held on a trust for some time or has not moved out of the same family for generations), that a good root of title is not available. In such circumstances, the final sentence in paragraph 7 of Forms 1 and 2 should be suitably amended. The options of applying for qualified or possessory title may be noted.

Fergus Hayden

Chief Examiner of Titles

16th September 2011.

Updated 16th September 2013.