A blog article by: Brendan Michie
The Deeds Office is responsible for the registration, management, and maintenance of the property registry of South Africa and is responsible for the accurate examination, registration and record-keeping of all property transactions.
It currently takes between 7 and 21 working days for a property to be registered at the Deeds Office.
But what actually happens at the Deeds Office?
In a nutshell, the Deeds Office procedure for registration follows several steps. A deed is examined on both a junior and senior level before arriving at the desk of a senior registrar who confirms whether the deed is passed or rejected.
Here’s a step by step, behind the scenes look at the process:
Step one:
- Lodgement of deeds
- Deeds are regulated by lodgement clerks
- Lodgement clerks are responsible for data capturing and linking of deeds (where more than one attorney attends to the registration of transfer, registration of a bond and cancellation of a bond)
- All parties in the property transaction and the property itself undergo a thorough search
Step two:
- Sorting of deeds
- Deeds will be distributed to various examiners for the first examination
- First examination is undertaken by a junior examiner
Step three:
- Sorting of deeds and distribution to senior level
- Senior examiners pass or reject deeds
Step four:
- Assistant registrar monitors rejected deeds and has the final say on whether deeds pass or remain rejected
- Rejected deeds will go directly to delivery to be returned to the relevant conveyancer
- Deeds that have been passed will now be sent to the preparation room
Step five:
- Preparation of deeds by conveyancers and conveyancing clerks
- This step takes about three days
- Final check for interdicts
- Deeds are ‘put forward’ for execution
Step six
- Deeds are executed
Finally, the property is now registered in the new owner’s name.
For more information: Brendan Michie – BrendanM@hammondpole.co.za
