Putting foot

The Registrar of Deeds at Pretoria has issued a circular, drawing conveyancers' attention to malpractices present in his registry and has reconfirmed the existing practice, which fell away due to misuse, as to how notes raised by examiners on deeds and documents should be purged:

Circular 3 of 2006 reads as follows:

• Proof has been submitted to me that the initials of parties, even those of examiners, are being forged on documents. This cannot be tolerated and should this be discovered in future, the matter will be submitted to the Law Society of South Africa for the necessary steps to be taken.
  
  
• Examiners allege that notes are being removed by conveyancing staff. In order to prevent the perpetuation of this, deeds and documents will only be accepted for registration if the note has been purged by the examiner, inclusive of the name and signature of such examiner.
  
  
• Conveyancers are urged to kindly pay more attention to the certificates provided, more especially to the certificates provided in terms of section 15(B)(3) of the Sectional Titles Act 95 of 1986.
  
  
• It often occurs that such certificates contain false information. It must be remembered that the integrity of our registration system depends on the authenticity of certificates provided by the conveyancers.
  
  
• Your co-operation in the above matters will be highly appreciated. The practice contained in paragraph 2 of this circular will come into operation with immediate effect.