When a property is being sold in Jamaica the vendor through his real estate lawyer is typically required to lodge the duplicate certificate of title for the transfer to be registered in the name of the purchaser. If the title is however lost, stolen or destroyed, there is no title to lodge. While this may delay the time to close a real estate transaction, it does not prevent it. In this article, I will give a brief overview of how one can make an application for a lost title.

Only persons having some interest or connection to a property can make a lost title. These persons include the registered owner on title, a lender exercising the power of sale under a mortgage, someone acting in place of the deceased owner under probate or letters of administration or someone who has the authority to represent a company or other corporate body. Whenever one is acting in the place of a deceased owner, he must lodge a proof of his authority to apply.  In cases of corporate bodies, the applicant must state the authority to act and must provide proof that the company is still in operation.

Who can Apply for a new certificate of Title Under a Lost Title Application

If there is more than one person registered on the title, all the other co-owners must make the application unless there is a good and reasonable cause as to why this cannot be done in which case, the applicant must provide evidence.

The Application

A lost title application in Jamaica starts with completing a lost title application form available here . The form must be completed by one of the person’s previously mentioned.

On the Lost title application form, the land must be identified by volume and folio number, the name of the place, Lot number and parish. 

The lost title application form is accompanied by a statutory declaration or statutory declarations. The statutory declaration must reflect the circumstances under which the title was lost, stolen or destroyed. If the title was lost, the person making the applicant (the declarant), must state where it was kept, by whom, who had access to it, approximately where it was last seen, how and by whom the loss was discovered.  You will also need to state what searches have been made to locate the title, by whom, where, and the results of those searches.

 If the title was being held by a third party, a statutory declaration from the other person or person who had custody of the tile must be filed. If the title was stolen or destroyed, you must state the circumstances under which it was.

If the title was stolen, you will need a copy of the police report to show that the stolen title was reported. If the title was destroyed by fire, then a report from the fire bigrade would be necessary.

If there is no objection and the evidence given by declaration is satisfactory the Registrar will cancel the entry in the register book for the lost duplicate certificate of title, make a new entry and issue a new duplicate certificate of title.

After The Lost Title Application

Once the application is accepted by the Registrar, you will be directed to give a 14 days’ notice by advertising in a local newspaper so the public can be made aware of it and lodge a complaint if they believe that the application is fraudulent. After the 14 days, you must then forward the relevant page with the date of the newspaper containing the advertisement to the Office of Titles and a covering letter stating that this has been forwarded. Final fees for the Title should also be enclosed which would be $3000.00.

If the title is subsequently found it must be sent to the Registrar for cancellation, so you must undertake to deliver up the said Certificate of Title for cancellation if it ever comes into your possession, custody or control.

DISCLAIMER:
The contents of this article are for informational purposes only. It must not be relied upon as an alternative to legal advice from your own attorney