LPC Notes - Investigating Title
Distinction level notes for Real Estate WS2/3
The University of Law specific (2023)
Notes on:
- How to Investigate Title
- Three Registers
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Outcomes
❖ Conduct an investigation of title on behalf of a buyer client to establish ownership and
whether the property benefits from or is subject to any rights.
❖ Identify any issues arising from the title investigation and analyse the issues in light of a buyer
client’s particular circumstances.
❖ Conclude when further action needs to be taken in respect of an issue, either by raising further
enquiries or by taking steps to protect a buyer client.
❖ Conduct an initial interview with a client in order to take instructions on a property transaction
and identify issues arising at the instruction stage.
❖ Investigate title to a freehold registered property on behalf of a buyer client and draft
requisitions on title to the seller’s solicitor.
❖ Report to a buyer client and its lender on title matters using a standard form Certificate of
Title.
Workshop Tasks
❖ Discuss your analysis of a register of title from the Unit Workshop Preparatory Task and, as a
team, create a short presentation to give to the class.
❖ Conduct a title investigation on behalf of a buyer client.
❖ Utilise a suggested problem-solving structure in order to identify the pertinent issues arising
from your title investigation, the impact on a buyer client and the appropriate courses of
action to take.
❖ Taking initial instructions.
❖ Investigating title and raising requisitions on title.
❖ Reporting on title matters.
Certificate of title
What is a Certificate of title is a report about a property.
certificate of It is prepared by a solicitor and given to a company which is buying a property or lending money
title? to finance the purchase.
✓ Certificate provides a summary of all the important information which the buyer and
lender need to know about the property to decide whether to buy/lend money for it.
✓ Avoids duplication of investigation
✓ Most firms use the City of London Law Society’s (CLLS) Certificate of Title
✓ Can be used whenever there are dealings with a property.
Who prepares it? → When prepared by the seller’s solicitor it is usually addressed to buyer and lenders
o Avoids need for every party to carry out their own investigation
o Seller’s solicitor may prepare in cases such as where there is a development being sold
and purchasers bidding
▪ each of the purchasers’ solicitors can examine the draft certificate when advising
client
▪ saves a lot of time and expense
▪ seller’s solicitor will already be familiar with property so can produce certificate
relatively quickly
→ When prepare by buyer’s solicitor it will be addressed to both the lender and the buyer
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, REAL ESTATE EXAM NOTES
o avoids need for the lender’s solicitor to carry out his own investigation of title
o e.g., when the property is smaller
o will create certificate based on the information which he ascertained in pre-contract
searches and investigation of title
Why use it? Alternative to using a certificate of title is for each party’s solicitor to carry out their own
investigations, which can result in a lot of duplication of work.
Does it provide Where buyer’s solicitor is preparing certificate, much of the information will have been obtained
sufficient security from the seller’s solicitor so qualifications will be needed with regards to fullness/accuracy of
alone? information supplied
Key stages of There are certain tasks which need to be completed whenever you prepare a certificate of title:
preparation ✓ review title documents
✓ raise searches and enquiries and review results
✓ prepare first draft of the certificate
✓ raise enquiries of your client
✓ review the valuation of the property
✓ submit the draft certificate to the addressee’s solicitors for approval and negotiate their
amendments
✓ revise the draft certificate
✓ agree the form of certificate with the addressee’s solicitors
✓ send the final draft to client for confirmation
✓ agree the addressees
✓ engross and date the agreed form of certificate
Completing the → No amendments to the certificate: apart from inserting the addressee’s details, completing
certificate definitions in Schedule 1 or including/deleting the wording in square brackets - NO other
amendments can be made to the body of the certificate.
o if a statement/confirmation is not appropriate or true, a ‘disqualification’ should be
made in the box
o below the relevant set of statements
• need to read each statement in the body of the certificate and ask ‘is this true?’
• if statement is not true you need to make a disclosure against it, but NEVER
amend the statement itself
→ Freehold property: where there is no lease, you can insert ‘not used’ in Part 1 of Schedule 4
and delete the table (also in Schedule 5 if there are no letting documents)
→ Occupational leases: if property is subject to numerous occupational leases, one should
consider reporting in detail on the ‘standard form’ lease and then for each individual unity by
summarising the differences.
o in cases such as a large shopping centre, it is likely that there is a standard form lease
for each type of use
o where there are significant differences between each standard form lease, it may be
easier to report separately on each standard form
→ Annexes to the certificate: avoid annexing copies of documents to the certificate
o instead summarise the terms of any relevant document
o if there is permission from the addressee, it is acceptable to annex copy documents or
extracts where appropriate (e.g. detailed provisions or plan).
Enquiries Required because the certificate contains a number of statements given on behalf of your client.
Thus, the solicitor giving the certificate must ask the client to either confirm that the statement is
correct or make a disclosure as to why it is not correct.
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