{"id":113312,"date":"2021-04-07T00:26:37","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T06:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=113312"},"modified":"2021-04-06T17:25:02","modified_gmt":"2021-04-07T00:25:02","slug":"e-register-consumer-protection-lacking-for-land-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/04\/07\/e-register-consumer-protection-lacking-for-land-owners\/","title":{"rendered":"E register; Consumer protection lacking for land owners."},"content":{"rendered":"

Kirthimala Gunasekera Senior Lawyer<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Interesting informative article\non \u2018\u2019DIGITALIZATION AND MODERNIZING TRADE BUSIENSS AND CONSUMERISM FOR THE\nCITIZEN\u2019\u2019 4th<\/sup> April 2021 published in  Lanka Web . <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/strong>E Land <\/strong>registration will soon be operating the land registration\nsystem to secure ownership . However it  can\nbe a source of ownership insecurity,  without\nconsumer protection laws  The  risk involved  in the absence of  consumer protection laws  to protect owners was demonstrated in USA,  when New York News Paper prepared a forged deed to transfer the\nEmpire State Building.   The forged document was registered in 90\nminutes, the land registry had no laws to protect owners, therefore did not\nrecognize that 102-story Art Deco skyscrape was being sold  to a new owner when the  information in the deed was  laughable: Original;  “King Kong” star Fay Wray  listed as a witness to the deed and the notary\u2019s  name was a \nbank robber\u2019s name  Willie Sutton.  [ https:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/news\/money\/90-minutes-daily-news-steal-empire-state-building-article-1.353477]. . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/strong> In modernization and introduction of  technology to land registries consumer\nprotection law takes a leading role in many countries.  Professors of law have published many books\non the subject.  It needs mention here\nthat  professional practice and land\nregistry laws  with  steadfast and \nlimitless laws and rules  for  identification of owners for consumer\nprotection  has been the reason for the\nsuccess  of E  registers in \nAustralia, New Zeeland, Singapore and UK . Where the law requires  thorough identification checks and strict\nrequirements for witnessing documents before the execution of  transactions as given in this article . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sri Lanka attention was not\ngiven   to introduce the international\nlaws that   protect owners  in an e register, even when land fraud is\nextremely pervasive. However we are fast moving to  introduce  technology to land registries.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The    E register commenced    scanning  \nthe owners from an unreliable register \n that commenced in 1864<\/strong>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owners who have not checked the land\nregistry after they had purchased lands or houses need to   check their ownership   status \nin  land registries to be safe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A \nquick fix solution scanning the names of owners from  the unreliable old register  which  1]\nis a non compulsory register —- where all the ownership rights of land owners\nare  not registered. 2] is  torn mutilated \nas the register had not been revised since   1864. 3]\n has fraudulent  entries,  according to the Registrar General  has 50% forged deeds .     (https:\/\/www.newsfirst.lk\/2019\/03\/17\/50-of-land-deeds-in-sri-lanka-forged-registrar-general\/#:~:text=COLOMBO%20\n(News%201st)%20%E2%80%93%20The,the%20country%20are%20also%20forged<\/a>,  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  <\/em>1] E register copies from a non\ncompulsory register—<\/strong>— Registrar\nGeneral in his letter dated 6.04.2016 to the Prime Minister\u2019s   office   confirms that \nthat the registration of  deeds\nare not compulsory under the law governing registration.  He explained in his letter   that\nthe old  register  is  not\na conclusive register where all rights of owners are registered.  This  \nmeans the  e register will be  prepared from a   non\ncomprehensive register   that will not\nhave   all  rights of owners,  specifically rights to   life interest, lease hold interest,\nservitudes  agreements to sell  etc.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solution—<\/strong> it is important to immediately   make a public announcement  to all  owners to  register  \nall their deeds and land rights such that their rights will be included  in the E register.    If not the E register will exclude owners\nwho have unregistered   ownership deeds ,\ngifts, ,  life interest, lease hold\ninterest, servitudes , agreements to sell \netc    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2]\nE register copies from a torn mutilated register<\/strong>  \n——-Owners    have got\nmisplaced   from \nthe old   register as the folios\nare  damaged and   mutilated \nfrom 1864 .            [ Even lawyers have found that their\nhelpless, their  ownership  had been \nmisplaced, and  the land registry\ninforms  in writing that  folios are damaged ] This means that only\nowners whose folios are not damaged will be included in the E register.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solution<\/strong> — Public announcement is essential \nfor owners to immediately  make\ntheir  application under the Ordinance 18\nof 1945 to reconstruct the damaged mutilated folios.   The Registrar   has power  \nunder the   Ordinance 18 of 1945  to prepare\nand reconstruct the folios to  re instate\n the names of owners. This should have\nbeen done before ,   scanning commenced\nto  prepare the e  register.  \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3] E\nregister will record forged deeds–<\/strong>.<\/strong> Are we only admiring the glory of technology as a duck gliding on\nwater without seeing the paddling  underneath.  It needs mention here that all countries where\nthe E register  is a success has enacted\nconsumer protection laws [n  Australia,\nNew Zeeland, Singapore and UK] .  The\nRegistrars have  quasi-judicial powers to\ncheck owners\u2019 identity before removing and replacing  owners \nin the E   register, the  Registrar has the full power and authority to\nreject forged invalid deeds.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sri Lanka the register has no such\nauthority, present law is that  the\nRegistrar is not responsible for the validity of deeds that are registered. [\nSection 7 of the Registration of Documents Ordinance]   Therefore\nthe owners registered have very little  protection as a forged deed can easily replace\ntheir  ownership.  According to the Registrar General old register\nfrom which the E register is scanning owners  has 50% forged deeds .     Registrar  states \nthat 50% of entries of the register from which the e register is\nprepared are forged (https:\/\/www.newsfirst.lk\/2019\/03\/17\/50-of-land-deeds-in-sri-lanka-forged-registrar-general\/#:~:text=COLOMBO%20\n(News%201st)%20%E2%80%93%20The,the%20country%20are%20also%20forged<\/a> \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consumer protection law recognised  internationally protect land owners and buyers\nfrom fraud <\/strong> ———-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1]Block\nchain method [ very popular]<\/strong>  – The technology involves\ncreating digital  verification recording\nsystem or a  digital file. Fingerprints\nof owners in a pedigree are saved together in groups into a block and then to a\nchain in registries. It is impossible to add new information fraudulently to\nthe chain  of title of an owner.   The chain\u2019s ability to secure data and\nhistory of land title is very successful to prevent fraud. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2]UK —<\/strong>Property\nAlert<\/strong><\/a> service<\/strong> for owner\u2019s mobile , to receive updates whenever someone\nmakes a search on their property\u2019s title or attempts to make a change to its\nregistration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3]USA<\/strong> –A solution\nwhich is well suited to the modern digital age has been created by the\nintroduction of Electronic Notary Journal of Official Acts (\u2018Enjoa\u2019) by the\nNational Notary Association (NNA) USA. They have  incorporated biometric technology into its new\nelectronic identity-capturing database to provide secure and convenient\nelectronic protection for documents and notaries., Enjoa   captures the thumbprints and digital photos\nof the owners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4]Malaysia<\/strong> —\nIncreasing\ncases of land fraud in Malaysia triggered an initiative t to seek responsible\nsolutions to resolve the issue.  The Government\n designed an electronic land\nadministration system called e-Tanah in which the land registry embarked on a\nsecurity system to prevent land fraud by affixing the thumb impressions of\nowners in addition to signatures. d. This system requires the owner of the\nproperty to physically present himself with his Mykad [ID card] and to place\nboth thumbs on the biometric appliance available in the land office in order to\nverify his ownership. The biometric confirmation letter must be enclosed\ntogether with the instrument of transfer for registration in land registries <\/p>\n\n\n\n

5]Bhoomi\nProject in India<\/strong>—-<\/em>A similar biometric system has been\nintroduced in India for the identification of owners. Bhoomi has computerized\n20 million records of land ownership of 6.7million farmers. A farmer can check\nthe status of their deeds being registered or \ntampered with on a touch screen by getting authenticated access with his\nfingerprint, using biometric fingerprint scanners available in computer kiosks.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6]\nManipur<\/strong>—Loucha  Pathap \nwhich means rules governing the land\u201d was inaugurated on 2nd July\n2004.  Loucha   Pathap is the application software,\nindigenously developed by the National Informatics Center, Manipur for the\npurposeof the computerizationof land records. Through the use of the device the\nsoftware and its content owners are protected against theft <\/p>\n\n\n\n

7]   Australia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As in all countries e registration\ncommenced in Australia  with consumer\nprotection laws and organisations to manage the laws . Australian Registrars\nNational Electronic Conveyancing Council (ARNECO) introduced model\nparticipation rules on 18th<\/sup> March 2014. Property Exchange Australia\n(PEXA) will remove the manual processes and paperwork associated with the\nexchange of property by allowing land registries, financial institutions and\npractitioners in an integrated system of transacting online. PEXA is aimed at\nproviding benefits across the entire conveyancing industry, some of which\ninclude: Transparency<\/strong> \u2013 all\nparties can see completed stages of the settlement process and those which may\nbe outstanding. Early\nfraud identification<\/strong> – lenders can identify early any potential\nfraud in the  process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Bim Saviya –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the intention of the   Government with the advice of the World\nBank  to introduce a comprehensive\nregister called the Bim Saviya register  to\nregister owners of 12 million blocks of land which covers all owners government\nand private owners, before the commencement of the E register. [ however without\nlocal  legal consultation ]  The entire project failed . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reasons for the failure after 20 years\nis   highlighted in the   Performance Report   of 2019 \nReport  states clearly   that it will take over 100 years to complete\nthe Bim Saviya register . Vide report    [2019[https:\/\/www.parliament.lk\/uploads\/documents\/paperspresented\/performance-report-land-title-settlement-department-2019.pdf].<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The law of Bim Saviya is  unsuitable for our country as the owners\u2019  right to access court if the lands are affected\nby forgery or fraud have   been \ntaken away by this law. In lieu Government has agreed to compensate\nowners from an Assurance Fund .    <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kirthimala Gunasekera Senior Lawyer Interesting informative article on \u2018\u2019DIGITALIZATION AND MODERNIZING TRADE BUSIENSS AND CONSUMERISM FOR THE CITIZEN\u2019\u2019 4th April 2021 published in  Lanka Web .  E Land registration will soon be operating the land registration system to secure ownership . However it  can be a source of ownership insecurity,  without consumer protection laws  The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-law-order"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113312\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}