On 19/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 19/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 19/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 12/11/1993.
PART VI
INSTRUMENTS
52.
—(1) Every mortgage, charge or lease presented for registration need not be lodged in duplicate except for a lease issued by the Housing and Development Board under Part IV of the Housing and Development Act (Cap. 129).
(2) Upon registration of any mortgage, charge or lease, the Registrar shall enter a statement on the mortgage, charge or lease to the effect that it has been registered and, where such instrument is accompanied by a certificate of title, or lease the Registrar shall —
(a)
in the case of a manual folio or lease, endorse a memorial of the date of registration of the mortgage, charge, or lease on the certificate of title or lease, and deliver the duplicate certificate of title or duplicate lease to the person entitled to the custody thereof; and
(b)
in the case of a computer folio, issue a new edition of the certificate of title showing the relevant entry of the memorial of registration of the mortgage, charge or lease and deliver a print-out of the certificate of title with such entry to the person entitled to the custody thereof.
(3) In the absence of any express agreement to the contrary, the mortgagee, chargee or lessee shall be entitled to the custody of the certificate of title or duplicate lease.
53.
—(1) In every instrument affecting registered land, co-tenants claiming under the instrument shall, unless they are described as tenants in common, hold the land as joint tenants; and if they are described as tenants in common, the shares in the registered land to be held by them shall, subject to subsection (2), be specified in the instrument.
(2) Persons described as tenants in common shall, in the absence of any expression to the contrary, be presumed to be entitled in equal shares.
(3) Tenants in common who intend to hold their estate or interest in land as joint tenants may jointly declare by an instrument of declaration in the approved form that they hold the estate or interest in their respective shares in the registered land as joint tenants of the entire estate or interest thereof.
(4) Upon the registration of an instrument of declaration referred to in subsection (3) —
(a)
where all the tenants in common of the entire estate or interest in the registered land are the declarants — the estate or interest which they held in their respective shares as tenants in common immediately before such registration shall vest in them as joint tenants; or
(b)
where not all the tenants in common of the entire estate or interest in the registered land are the declarants —
(i)
the estate or interest which the declarants held in their respective shares as tenants in common immediately before such registration shall vest in the declarants as joint tenants; and
(ii)
the declarants and the other tenants in common shall continue to hold their estate or interest in their respective shares as tenants in common in accordance with subsections (1) and (2).
(5) Without prejudice to any rule or principle of law relating to severance of a joint tenancy, any joint tenant may sever a joint tenancy of an estate or interest in registered land by an instrument of declaration in the approved form and by serving a copy of the instrument of declaration personally or by registered post on the other joint tenants.
(6) Upon the registration of the instrument of declaration which has been duly served as required by subsection (5), the respective registered estates and interests in the registered land shall be held by the declarant and the remaining joint tenants as tenants in common in their respective shares.
(7) Where a joint tenant holds an estate or interest in registered land on trust, the severance of the joint tenancy shall not affect the rights of the beneficiary of the trust or the operation of the law relating to breaches of trust.
54.
—(1) Every instrument lodged for registration shall refer to the folio and the lot intended to be dealt with.
(2) Where a dealing referred to in an instrument affects part of any land comprised in a folio and such dealing does not contravene the provisions of the Planning Act (Cap. 232) or require the allocation of a new survey lot number by the Chief Surveyor for that part of the land, the instrument lodged for registration shall be accompanied by a plan which will enable the land to be identified with certainty.
55.
—(1) Instruments intended to dispose of or to create any interest in registered land shall contain in a memorandum of prior encumbrances a brief description of any interest affecting that land which has been registered or notified in the land-register.
(2) Failure to comply with subsection (1) shall not prevent registration of the instrument unless, in the opinion of the Registrar, completion of the memorandum is necessary to indicate the order of registration of two or more instruments.
(3) Any error in or omission from the memorandum of prior encumbrances shall not operate to invalidate the registration of an instrument.
56.
—(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), every instrument purporting to dispose of or to create an interest in registered land shall be executed by the proprietor or proprietors thereof named in the land-register at the time of registration of the instrument.
(2) This section shall not prevent the registration of any instrument executed by —
(a)
the survivor or survivors of joint proprietors;
(b)
the personal representative of a deceased proprietor in severalty;
(c)
the attorney or other agent authorised in accordance with Part XVI;
(d)
the sheriff or other officer of a court acting under a writ, order or decree of a court of competent jurisdiction;
(e)
the proprietor under his lawfully altered name where such name is different from that registered in the land-register; or
(f)
any person empowered in that behalf, directly or indirectly, by this Act or any other written law.
(3) Before registering any instrument executed by a person other than the proprietor named in the land-register, the Registrar may require production of the instrument, authority or evidence empowering or enabling that person to execute.
57.
—(1) The Registrar shall accept as proof of due execution of an instrument intended for registration under this Act if the instrument is presented in the following manner:
(a)
where a person, other than a party to the instrument, attests the instrument; or
(b)
where the execution by a party is not apparently attested, the solicitor has signed the certificate of correctness referred to in section 59, and —
(i)
where such instrument is executed in Singapore, the Registrar shall presume that it has been duly executed in the presence of the solicitor who has signed the certificate of correctness; or
(ii)
where such instrument is executed outside Singapore, the Registrar shall presume that the solicitor who signed the certificate of correctness has satisfied himself that the execution of that instrument has been attested.
(2) The Registrar may, in any case in which he has reason to suspect impropriety or where the instrument is executed by a marksman or by a person who appears to be illiterate, require any of the parties to the instrument or his respective witness to appear before him or before any person nominated by him for the purpose of proving the due execution of the instrument.
58.
—(1) In favour of purchasers, an instrument dealing with registered land shall be deemed to have been duly executed by a corporation aggregate if the seal of the corporation is affixed thereto in the presence of and attested by its secretary or other permanent officer, and by a member of the board of directors, council or other governing body of the corporation.
(2) Where a seal purporting to be the seal of a corporation appears to have been affixed to an instrument in accordance with subsection (1), the instrument shall be deemed to have been executed in accordance with the requirements of this section.
(3) Any mode of execution or attestation authorised by law or by practice or by the written law, charter, memorandum or articles, deed of settlement or other instrument constituting the corporation or regulating the affairs thereof shall, in addition to the modes authorised by this section, be effectual as if this section had not been enacted.
59.
—(1) The Registrar may reject any application to bring land under the provisions of this Act, or any other instrument purporting to deal with or to affect registered land, unless there is endorsed thereon a certificate by the person acquiring title and a certificate by the person divesting title under this Act that it is correct for the purposes of this Act.
(2) The certificate by the person acquiring title or divesting title shall imply representations that to the best of the signatory’s knowledge and belief and in so far as he has any reasonable means of ascertaining —
(a)
the instrument is made in good faith;
(b)
the matters set forth therein are substantially correct; and
(c)
in the case of —
(i)
a person acquiring title, the person acquiring title thereunder accepts proprietorship and (unless otherwise expressed in the instrument) is of full age and legal capacity; or
(ii)
a person divesting title, the person divesting title thereunder is the party entitled to divest the interest under the instrument and is of full age and legal capacity.
(3) The certificate by the person acquiring title shall be signed by the solicitor employed by the party acquiring title under the instrument and the certificate by the person divesting title shall be signed by the solicitor employed by the party divesting title under the instrument except that if a solicitor is not so employed, the certificate shall be signed by the party himself or, in the case of a corporation, by a responsible officer of the corporation.
(4) Each certificate shall indicate in legible characters the name and capacity of the signatory.
(5) Where the certificate is signed by any party (including a solicitor who is a party acquiring or divesting title under the instrument), or by an officer of any corporation, divesting or acquiring title, the Registrar may in order to satisfy himself as to the identity and capacity of the signatory require such person to appear before him.
(6) Any person who falsely certifies to the correctness of any application, dealing or caveat shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 and such penalty shall not prevent a person who may have sustained any damage or loss in consequence of errors or mistakes in any such certified application, dealing or caveat from recovering damages against the person who has certified the same.
(7) In any instrument which is registered under the provisions of this Act either before or after the commencement of this Act, any reference to “Certificate of Correctness” shall be construed as a reference to a certificate of correctness given pursuant to this section or any corresponding provision in any repealed enactment.
(8) For the purposes of this section, “solicitor” means a solicitor who has in force a practising certificate issued under the Legal Profession Act (Cap. 161).
60.
—(1) Every instrument by which a person becomes a proprietor of registered land and every caveat relating to dealings with land (whether registered or unregistered) shall contain an address within Singapore to which may be sent any notice concerning the land authorised or required by this Act.
(2) The proprietor or caveator may from time to time notify the Registrar in writing of any change of his address, and the Registrar shall make an appropriate record of the change.
(3) Any notice sent by registered post to the last recorded address of a proprietor or a caveator shall be deemed to be duly served on the person to whom it is addressed two days after the day on which the notice was posted by registered post, notwithstanding the fact that the letter may be returned by the post office as undelivered.
(4) Section 72 of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act (Cap. 61) shall not apply to the service on a proprietor or on a caveator of any notice authorised or required by this Act.
61.
—(1) Upon registration, any instrument disposing of or creating an interest in registered land shall have the effect of a deed.
(2) Nothing in this Act shall prevent a party to an instrument affixing his seal thereto or giving to the instrument any additional form of solemnity not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act.
62.
—(1) In instruments registered under the provisions of this Act, unless a contrary intention is expressed, covenants relating to land shall be deemed to be made by the covenantor and his successors in title with the covenantee and his successors in title and shall have effect as if such successors were expressly referred to therein.
(2) Nothing in this section shall enlarge or extend the power of a covenantor to burden land in the hands of his successors in title.