What You Need To Know About Property Title Deeds

If you are planning to buy a new property, you will need to get the title deed transferred into your name to prove that you are the owner of the property. You will need the assistance of a lawyer specialising in property transfers (also known as a conveyancer) to help you transfer the title deed into your name.

You will only become the owner of the property when the Registrar of Deeds signs the transfer. After it has been signed, a copy of the title deed is kept at the Deeds Office closest to you.

A Title Deed is documentary proof of ownership in terms of the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937. Each property has its own separate Title Deed. It is an important document containing all the details pertaining to a particular property.

These details are:

The name of the existing owner as well as the previous owners.
A detailed property description which includes size.
The purchase price of the property paid by the existing owner.
Conditions applicable to the zoning, use and sale of the land.
All real rights registered in respect of the property.
The owner will normally have the Title Deed or a copy thereof in his possession. Before signing an offer to purchase carefully scrutinize the Title Deed.

What is The Deeds Office and The Deeds Registry?

There are numerous Deeds Offices throughout South Africa. Each Deeds Office holds a Deeds Registry, containing filed Title Deeds of all the properties in its particular jurisdiction. All the Deeds Registries are linked to a computer network. Your estate agent can, via a computer-linked facility from his office, examine any Title Deed (registered from 1980) in the country’s combined Deeds Registry.

What’s the Difference Between a Property Deed and a Title?

Title is the legal way of saying you own a right to something. For real estate purposes, title refers to ownership of the property, meaning that you have the rights to use that property. It may be a partial interest in the property or it may be the full. However, because you have title, you can access the land and potentially modify it as you see fit. Title also means that you can transfer that interest or portion that you own to others. However, you can never legally transfer more than you own. Deeds, on the other hand, are actually the legal documents that transfer title from one person to another. Sometimes the Deed is referred to as the vehicle of the property interest transfer.