Name of the Organization : Land Information New Zealand
Type of Facility : Land Registration
Country : New Zealand
Website : http://www.linz.govt.nz/land/land-registration
Land Registration:
In New Zealand, we can be confident of our property rights because of the strong survey and legal framework supporting land ownership.
Related : Land Information Updating/ Changing Land Records Online New Zealand : www.statusin.org/6840.html
LINZ is responsible for providing and maintaining the certainty of private property ownership, by recording survey and land title information and by making this information available to support economic activity.
The underlying systems:
From the 1840s New Zealand’s land records were managed under a paper system. Since 2002, the titles, survey plans and related documents are held in an electronic database called Landonline.
Accurate records of title transactions depend on precise information about the land’s features and boundaries. New Zealand’s geodetic system provides the underlying measurements.
The records of property location and related information, such as the boundary dimensions, are together called the ‘cadastre’ and are shown in cadastral survey plans. See Surveying.
Land registration is governed by the Land Transfer Act 1952, and the Land Transfer Regulations 2002. A review of this legislation began in 2010 – see Land registration legislation.
The Registrar-General of Land, based within LINZ, develops standards and sets an assurance programme for the land registration system.
How land title registration works day-to-day:
New titles are created, usually by subdivision of an existing title, when legal title and survey documents are formally deposited with LINZ. This process is called ‘lodging’. LINZ checks the documents meet the legal requirements, including that the cadastral survey plan meets the required standards of accuracy. Then the existing title is cancelled, and a new Computer Register (Certificate of Title) is created for each new parcel of land shown on the deposited plan.
Changes to existing titles – such as changes of ownership, discharges of mortgage and new mortgages – are usually lodged by lawyers and conveyancers in documents called instruments. After they are checked by LINZ they are registered and recorded on the relevant computer register, as ‘memorials’, ‘notifications’ or ‘entries’, depending on the kind of document recorded.
There are two ways to access the registration system:
e-dealing :
land professionals deal electronically with each other and LINZ through Landonline
Manual dealing :
physical presentation of instruments (documents) at a LINZ office, which are then processed and recorded in Landonline. See ‘Manual dealing and lodgement’.
Nearly all changes to title records in New Zealand now are made through e-dealing on Landonline. Since 2009, electronic lodgement has been mandatory for land professionals. wishing to lodge registration. Manual lodgement remains an option, in certain circumstances.
You can find out about both e-dealing and manual lodgement in the Dealings section below.
Fees and charges:
The fees for making changes to a land record are set by the Land Transfer Regulations and the Land Information New Zealand (Fees and Charges) Regulations 2003