On 19/06/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 19/06/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 19/06/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 12/11/1993.
PART IV
REGISTRATION
28.
—(1) The Registrar shall cause a register (referred to in this Act as the land-register) to be maintained for the purposes of this Act.
(2) The land-register shall comprise —
(a)
folios;
(b)
dealings registered therein under this Act; and
(c)
instruments and other documents in the approved form registered or notified under this Act.
(3) The land-register may be maintained in or upon any medium or combination of mediums capable of having information recorded in or upon it or them.
(4) The Registrar may, from time to time, vary the manner or form in which the whole or part of the land-register is maintained.
29.
—(1) The Registrar shall create a folio for any land by making a record of —
(a)
a description of the land and of the estate or interest therein for which it is created;
(b)
a description of the proprietor for the time being of the estate or interest and such other particulars as the Registrar thinks fit; and
(c)
such particulars, as the Registrar thinks fit, of —
(i)
other estates or interests, if any, affecting the land; and
(ii)
other information, if any, that relates to the land or any estate or interest therein and is included in that record pursuant to this Act or any other written law or an instrument made under such written law,
and by allocating a distinctive reference to the record so made.
(2) The Registrar may at any time create a new edition of a folio showing only subsisting entries and omitting therefrom all entries that have been determined or have ceased to have any effect.
(3) Where a person is registered as proprietor of a lease registered under this Act, the Registrar may, if he thinks fit, create a folio or folios for the estate or interest of that person in some or all of the land leased and may, for the purposes of this subsection, require the production to him of the duplicate registered lease.
(4) The Registrar may, if he thinks fit, create a new folio or new folios for the whole or any part of the land comprised in one or more of the folios.
(5) The Registrar may create a folio in respect of several parcels of land that are not contiguous if, in his opinion, the relative positions of those parcels can be sufficiently and conveniently shown on the plan filed with and approved by the Chief Surveyor.
(6) Where two or more parcels of registered lands are intended to form the common property of one or more subdivided buildings, the Registrar may, notwithstanding sections 8 to 13, 19 and 21 to 23, on an application made in the approved form by the proprietor of those adjoining parcels of land, create a single folio, qualified or unqualified, as the case may be, for those parcels of land even though they may be of different tenure.
(7) Where, under this Act, the Registrar creates a new folio for land comprised in a previously created folio, he shall cancel the previously created folio and may, for the purposes of this subsection, require the production to him of any certificate of title or duplicate registered dealing.
(8) The Registrar shall have, and shall be deemed always to have had, power to cancel in such manner as he considers proper any entry or notification in the land-register that he is satisfied does not affect the land to which the entry or notification purports to relate.
(9) The Registrar shall maintain a record of all dealings recorded in, or action taken in respect of, a computer folio and such other information, if any, relating to the folio as he thinks fit.
30.
—(1) The Registrar may create a new manual folio in the following cases:
(a)
where, in the opinion of the Registrar, it is impracticable to make further endorsements on an existing manual folio; and
(b)
where the certificate of title of the land comprised in an existing manual folio has been mutilated or defaced or is in such condition that, in the opinion of the Registrar, it should not be delivered.
(2) Where the land is comprised in a manual or computer folio, the Registrar may create a new folio —
(a)
where, upon registration of a transfer or transmission, the transferee or applicant has become the proprietor of an undivided share as tenant in common of the whole of the land in an existing folio;
(b)
where two or more parcels comprised in one or more folios have been amalgamated and allotted with a survey lot number by the Chief Surveyor;
(c)
where the proprietor of any land comprised in one or more existing folios has lodged the certificates of title thereof and has requested the Registrar —
(i)
to create a new folio for the land comprised therein;
(ii)
to create new folios for separate parts of the land therein comprised in accordance with lots in any lawful subdivision or layout; or
(iii)
to create a new folio comprising contiguous parcels in substitution for two or more existing manual folios;
(d)
in any other case where the Registrar is authorised or considers it practicable to create a new folio.
(3) Upon the creation of a new folio, the Registrar shall cancel the previous folio and shall indicate thereon the serial number of the new folio or folios and the reason for its cancellation.
(4) Subject to any agreement to the contrary, the proprietor in whose name a new folio is to be issued shall, as between him and any person with whom he has dealt, be liable for the cost of creating that folio.
(5) A new folio created pursuant to this section may, if the circumstances so require, be qualified as to boundaries and dimensions and section 165 shall, mutatis mutandis, apply thereto.
31. Section 13 of the State Lands Act (Cap. 314) and the covenants or conditions pursuant to that Act prohibiting or restricting the division or partition of land shall not apply to registered land.
32.
—(1) Where the competent authority appointed under the Planning Act (Cap. 232), or any other authority controlling or supervising the lawful subdivision of land, has granted subdivision approval for any land comprised in one or more folios which has been mortgaged or charged, any registered mortgagee or chargee (hereinafter called the applicant) may, with the written consent of his registered mortgagor or where default is made in the payment of the interest, principal or other moneys secured by the mortgage or charge or in payment of any part thereof, make an application together with the certificate of title for the creation of new folios for the separate subdivided lots.
(2) Where the registered mortgagor has given his consent for the application made by his registered mortgagee, the consent shall be endorsed on the application form lodged with the Registrar for creation of the new folios in accordance with subsection (1).
(3) Where the applicant is not the first registered mortgagee or chargee, the consent of mortgagees and chargees having priority to the applicant’s mortgage or charge shall be endorsed on the application.
(4) The Registrar shall not be concerned to enquire whether any default referred to in subsection (1) has occurred or whether notice has been given of the application for new folios under this section or whether the right conferred upon the mortgagee or chargee under this section is otherwise properly or regularly exercised.
33.
—(1) A new folio shall not be created in favour of —
(a)
a person entitled to a bare power of appointment over land; or
(b)
a person or class of persons entitled only to a contingent interest in land.
(2) Any instrument creating an interest mentioned in subsection (1) shall be registered by entering a memorial thereof on the current folio evidencing the title to the land in question.
(3) For the purposes of this section, persons entitled in default of execution of a power of appointment, or who are unascertained at the date of entry of such a memorial, shall be deemed to have contingent interests.
34.
—(1) The Registrar may, if he thinks fit, from time to time issue a certificate of title for the land comprised in any folio and may, for the purposes of subsection (4), require the production of any existing certificate of title or other registered instruments.
(2) A certificate of title shall be in an approved form.
(3) Every certificate of title shall bear a serial number which shall show clearly the distinctive reference allocated to the folio.
(4) When the Registrar issues a certificate of title, he shall cancel any certificate of title thereby superseded and produced or is otherwise available to him.
(5) Notwithstanding subsection (1) but subject to subsection (6), the Registrar shall issue a certificate of title for the land comprised in a folio upon the written request of —
(a)
the registered proprietor of that land; or
(b)
any registered mortgagee or chargee of that land.
(6) A request made under subsection (5) shall not require the Registrar to issue a certificate of title for the land comprised in a folio if a certificate of title for the land has been issued but has not been lodged with the Registrar.
35. The Registrar may —
(a)
deliver a certificate of title or any registered instrument and related documents in his custody to the person who lodged the documents unless that person has lodged an approved form with the Registrar authorising the Registrar to deliver the documents to some other person; and
(b)
where he is unable to determine to whom the certificate of title or registered instrument and related documents should be delivered, deliver it to the person he considers best entitled to the certificate of title or registered instrument or document or may retain them in the Land Titles Registry, and thereafter deliver them to the party adjudged by a court to be entitled to them or to a firm of solicitors authorised in writing by the Law Society of Singapore by its authorised officer.
36.
—(1) Every manual folio duly authenticated under the hand and seal of the Registrar shall be received in all courts as evidence of the particulars therein set forth and that the land therein comprised has been duly brought under the provisions of this Act and shall be conclusive evidence that the person named as proprietor therein or in any memorial thereon is, or was at the relevant time, entitled to the estate or interest in the land therein specified and described.
(2) Notwithstanding section 35 of the Evidence Act (Cap. 97), a print-out of a computer folio issued by the Registrar and bearing a facsimile of the Registrar’s seal shall be received in all courts as evidence of the particulars therein set forth and shall be conclusive evidence that the land therein comprised has been duly brought under the provisions of this Act and that the person named as proprietor therein or in any memorial thereon is, or was at the relevant time, entitled to the estate or interest in the land therein specified and described.
(3) Where, in a manual folio or a print-out of a computer folio, the estate or interest of a registered proprietor is expressed to be subject to —
(a)
an estate or interest evidenced by an instrument;
(b)
a provision of an instrument; or
(c)
an enumerated provision of any Act,
the whole of the contents of that instrument, provision or enumerated provision, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be set forth at length in the folio or print-out.
(4) Where a copy of a manual folio duly certified by the Registrar as a true copy or a print-out of a computer folio issued by the Registrar and bearing a facsimile of the Registrar’s seal is before a court in any action or suit, it shall have the same value in evidence as the original folio.
(5) Where the Registrar is required by law to produce at any place or to any person a computer folio, he shall comply with that requirement by issuing a print-out of the computer folio and by causing the print-out to be produced at that place or to that person.
37.
—(1) The Registrar shall register an instrument in the following manner:
(a)
where the relevant folio is a manual folio, by endorsing a memorial of the essential particulars of the instrument in the form approved by the Registrar on that folio and duly signed and sealed and dated by the Registrar; or
(b)
where the relevant folio is a computer folio, by entering a memorial in the computer folio containing the essential particulars of the instrument registered, including the date of registration,
except that where an instrument affects only a registered lease and no folio has been created for the land leased, it shall be sufficient for the purposes of this Act if the particulars of the instrument are recorded on that registered lease.
(2) Where two or more instruments which affect the same land have been lodged for registration at the same time by the same person and are awaiting registration, the Registrar shall register the instruments in the order in which he is requested in the lodgment application to do so by the person lodging the instruments.
(3) Where two or more instruments which affect the same land have been lodged by different persons or by the same person at different times and are awaiting registration, the Registrar shall, subject to subsection (4), register them in the order which would give effect to the intentions of the parties as expressed in, or apparent to him from, the instruments.
(4) Where the intentions of the parties referred to in subsection (3) appear to the Registrar to conflict, the Registrar shall register the instruments in the order in which they were lodged in registrable form, or were made registrable, as the case may be.
(5) When instruments affecting the same estate or interest in any land have been registered, they shall, notwithstanding any expressed, implied or constructive notice, be entitled to priority according to the order in which they are registered and not according to the date of the respective instruments.
(6) For a manual folio, the memorial shall bear the signature and seal of the Registrar or a facsimile thereof and the date of registration.
(7) For a computer folio, the memorial need not bear the signature of the Registrar but shall show the date of registration and shall be authenticated in such manner as the Registrar considers appropriate.
(8) Where registration has been effected pursuant to subsection (1)(a) or (b), the person who is named therein as taking an estate or interest becomes the proprietor of that estate or interest.
(9) The Registrar, on being satisfied that any entry in the land-register has ceased to affect the land to which it purports to relate, may of his own motion cancel that entry.
38.
—(1) The Registrar shall not register any instrument purporting to transfer or otherwise to deal with or affect registered land except in the manner herein provided, nor unless the instrument is substantially in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(2) The Registrar shall not enter in the register a notification of any transaction the legal effect of which is personal only or which does not create a recognised interest in land.
(3) The Registrar shall not register as proprietor any person or body other than a natural person, or a corporation, or a foreign state in the name of that state, or a body expressly empowered by statute to hold land.
(4) The Registrar shall not accept for registration any instrument unless the fees prescribed in respect thereof have been deposited or partially paid.
39.
—(1) Where it appears to the Registrar that a person acquiring title under any instrument is an infant or is suffering from any other legal disability, he shall notify the disability in the memorial of registration and in any new folio which may be created in favour of that person.
(2) Where a disability has been so notified, the Registrar shall not register any instrument executed by the person under disability unless the instrument gives effect to a transaction approved by the court or otherwise proved to the satisfaction of the Registrar to be within the capacity of that person.
40.
—(1) In favour of any purchaser of registered land, a corporation shall be deemed to have the same powers of acquisition and disposition as a natural person of full age and legal capacity.
(2) This section shall apply to all corporations whether sole or aggregate, whether created by any written law or otherwise, and notwithstanding any stipulation, restriction, or qualification imposed in the constitution of the corporation or elsewhere.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be held to diminish the personal liability of any individual or group of individuals controlling or responsible for the management of a corporation for acting in excess of its corporate powers.
(4) Where a corporation holds land in a fiduciary capacity, this section shall not be held to extend the powers of the corporation in respect of that land nor otherwise to affect the liability of the corporation to the beneficiaries for acting in excess of those powers.
41. Where a party entitled to registration under an instrument dies before registration of the instrument, the Registrar may nevertheless register the instrument in the name of that party.
42.
—(1) Where the Registrar has issued a certificate of title in respect of any registered land comprised in any folio, that document shall be produced for the purpose of effecting registration of any instrument lodged in the Land Titles Registry and for the purpose of entering endorsements of the memorial of registration in that folio.
(2) The Registrar may dispense with production of a certificate of title referred to in subsection (1) or a duplicate lease for any of the following purposes or in any of the following cases:
(a)
for the entry of a caveat;
(b)
for the registration of a writ of execution or order of court;
(c)
for the registration of a statutory charge including a charge in favour of the Central Provident Fund Board;
(d)
in any case where express provision to do so is made by this Act or any other written law;
(e)
where satisfactory evidence has been furnished to show that the certificate of title or duplicate lease has been lost, mislaid, destroyed or is being improperly or wrongfully withheld; or
(f)
for the registration of any transfer or other instrument pursuant to a writ or order of court as defined in section 131.
(3) In any case under subsection (2)(e), the Registrar may require the person seeking registration to furnish evidence that the certificate of title or duplicate lease has not been deposited as security for a loan and to advertise (in such manner as the Registrar may direct) the application to dispense with production.
43.
—(1) The Registrar may issue a replacement certificate of title to replace any certificate of title which has been lost or destroyed or which is being improperly or wrongfully withheld.
(2) Every replacement certificate of title shall be an exact copy of the relevant folio except that only subsisting instruments and entries shall be shown on the folio, and shall be as valid as the certificate which is lost, destroyed or withheld, and shall be usable for any purpose for which that certificate might have been used.
(3) Application for a replacement certificate of title may be made by the proprietor of the land comprised therein, or by any person claiming through him, and shall be supported by evidence of the loss or destruction and, in the case of loss, by such evidence of search for the certificate as the Registrar may require.
(4) The Registrar, before issuing a replacement certificate of title, may give 14 days’ notice of his intention to do so in one or more daily newspapers.
(5) The Registrar shall enter in the relevant folio a notification of the issue of any replacement certificate of title and that notification shall operate to cancel the lost or withheld certificate for all purposes notwithstanding the fact that the certificate may subsequently be recovered.
44.
—(1) Where land has been brought under the provisions of this Act, the Registrar may deal with the documents of title lodged with the Registrar for the purpose of bringing the land under this Act in the following manner:
(a)
retain the documents in the Land Titles Registry;
(b)
microfilm and transfer the documents to the National Archives to be dealt with as if they were public records for the purposes of the National Archives and Records Centre; or
(c)
subject to subsection (2), destroy the documents.
(2) The Registrar shall not destroy a document of title referred to in subsection (1) unless —
(a)
where the relevant folio is unqualified on the date of its issue, a period of 12 years has elapsed since the date of the creation of the folio; or
(b)
where the relevant folio was qualified, a period of 12 years has elapsed since the date when the folio becomes unqualified.
(3) Subject to subsection (4), the Registrar may destroy —
(a)
any instrument lodged with the Registrar for registration of another instrument and the instrument has since the registration of the other instrument become defunct; and
(b)
any certificate of title which has been cancelled pursuant to the issue of a new certificate of title or pursuant to the vesting of the land comprised in the certificate of title in the Government.
(4) Before destroying any of the instruments or certificates of title referred to in subsection (3), the Registrar shall cause them to be microfilmed.
(5) The Registrar may deal with documents of title lodged for the purpose of bringing land under the provisions of the repealed Land Titles Act (Cap. 157) in force immediately before the commencement of this Act in accordance with this section as if they were lodged after the commencement under the provisions of this Act.