Query Management/Review and Rejection of Applications in Relation to Registered Land (Excluding Section 49 and Form 68 Cases) – Legal Office Notice No. 1 of 2018

Effective from:  07 May 2018

1. General
Lodgement of poor and inadequate documentation is a significant problem for the PRA.  It is wasteful of resources and hinders registration workflows.  However, rejection of such applications, although not in order for registration, can also have serious repercussions and ultimately results in delays, loss of priority and additional expense for applicants.  Therefore, rejection of an application or dealing should be done with due care and consideration of the impact involved.

This notice and the list of grounds in the Appendix, together with the options available in the drop-down lists on ITRIS, provide guidance as to when an application may be rejected.

This Office Notice applies to applications in relation to registered land with the exception of S49 applications – long possession and Form 68 prescriptive easements.

2. When to Reject or Query
Serious implications may arise from loss of priority.  Therefore, an applications should only be rejected if it  is clearly not in order and cannot be registered. In such cases, all documents should be returned to the solicitor, with the reason(s) for rejection (see Appendix) selected from the dropdown list provided on ITRIS.  To avoid errors and any unnecessary and unfair rejections occurring, free texting (of reasons) should be used only in exceptional circumstances to expand  on the rejection grounds used.

On the other hand, where an application contains an omission or apparent error which is easily remedied, the application should  be queried (rather than rejected).  The query options available in the query dropdown list (on ITRIS) should be used, and free texting avoided unless absolutely necessary.

To provide a better, fairer and more streamlined service for our customers, this rejection policy will only apply to dealings within three months of their date of lodgement.  In addition, all queries arising, whether legal or mapping, should  be raised in tandem, where practicable.  This applies whether an application is being rejected or queried.

3. Appropriate Grounds for Rejection
An application should be rejected if any one or more of the grounds listed in the Appendix to this notice arise.

4. Query Management and Review Practices
Queried cases are to be pro-actively managed and a review system operated.  If, after the period of one month, replies to queries raised have not been received, an initial

reminder notice is to issue.  However, this period may be extended at the discretion of the settling officer. In the event of no response or an inadequate response within the relevant time period, the application should be abandoned. (183 LR Rules 2012[1])

 

This policy is to be read in conjunction with:

• Stamp Duty – Legal Office Notice No. 4 of 2014/Examination of Documents

 

This policy is to replace the existing policy as set out in:

• Office Notice 8/2010 and updates
• Office Notice 1/2008
• Office notices on pro-registration guidelines
• Any regional or informal policies on pro- registration or rejection

 

John Murphy
Deputy Registrar
7th May 2018

Michael Clarke
Deputy Registrar
Updated 20^th December 2019

[1] LR Rule183. Where no step has been taken for a period of one month in a matter pending in the Registry, the Authority may give notice to the applicant or his/her solicitor that the matter shall be treated as abandoned unless duly proceeded with within a time to be stated in the notice and, on the expiration of that time, it may treat the matter as abandoned, if it has not been proceeded with.

 

Appendix

No.	Grounds for Rejection of Applications for Registration
1.	Necessary documents required for registration have not been lodged (e.g. deed of transfer, leases etc.).
2.	A defect or omission preventing registration that requires a deed to be amended and re-executed.
3.	The deed is not properly executed or properly attested.
4.	Incorrect folio and county references are quoted in the operative clause of a deed or in an assent.
5.	No Stamp certificate or other evidence of revenue stamping is lodged Under Stamp Duty Legal Office Notice no. 4 of 2014 /Examination of Documents the following rejection grounds are also listed: 1) The stamp certificate security number does not correspond with the security number entered on the form 17 2) The date of execution of the deed on the stamp certificate does not correspond with the date on the relevant deed. 3) The relevant folio number is not inserted on the stamp certificate 4) The folio number quoted on the stamp certificate does not correspond with the folio number on the relevant deed.
6.	A transmission application predates the date of an assent.
7.	An assent/application is incomplete in a transmission
8.	The shares, in which tenancies in common are to be held, are not stated in the deed, or otherwise in the application.
9.	On lodgement of an application for registration of an easement as a single application, no assent to its registration is included.
10.	A residential charge lodged on or after the 1st of December 2009 is not in the correct format.
11.	The jurat to an affidavit has not been completed.
12.	A map is required, and none has been lodged either with the current dealing, or in an earlier application.
13.	The map lodged is not acceptable for registration.