check the title before buying

When buying a property it is important to check  for any restrictions that apply to the property that might prevent you from enjoying the use of the land, such as covenants and easements.  The Certificate of Title is the official record of who owns or has an interest in a property and will inform you of such restrictions.  While we recommend that you consult a lawyer before putting in an offer to buy a property, there are some simple ways that you can easily check the Title  that will help you determine if there are any issues that you should be aware of before you even commit to making an offer. 

Checking information contained on the Title

The Certificate of Title includes the following key information:

  • Legal details – including estate type, title, and legal description
  • Current legal owners
  • Interests – including ownership transfers, mortgages, and easements such as right-of-ways
  • Diagram of the plan of the property (depending on the Title type you get)

This information will help you identify potential issues that you should be aware of including if there are any covenants or easements, verifying the legal boundaries of the property, and checking that the people selling the property are the official owners.

If there are any interests in the property other than transfer or mortgages then you should pay very close attention to these and they should be thoroughly checked.  Such interests include covenants and easements that may restrict what you can do on the land.  Covenants are often put on properties, especially in new subdivisions to ensure that any structures built on the land are in line with the quality of the properties in the area, they may also be used to restrict certain activities.  An easement such as a right of way and drainage rights should also be carefully checked to understand the terms of conditions of the easement and any responsibilities the owner has to maintain them.  

To check the property boundaries you will need to get a copy of a Title that contains a plan of the land .  This allows you to get a sense of where the boundaries should roughly be running and match those with the physical boundaries of the property.  If they look like they match then there aren’t likely to be any issues, but if you have any doubts then it might pay to consult your lawyer and/or get a surveyor to inspect the property.

Verifying the ownership is very important when it comes to putting in an offer.  The people named as the vendors should match those on the Title.

You should also be aware of the type of ownership of the property.

  • Freehold is the most common ownership type, this means you own the land and the buildings on the property with few restrictions.
  • Cross-lease has also become more common and is where there is more than one property on a title.  In this case the owner of each property shares ownership of the land and each leases their own property.  This often means that you need to get permission from the other owners on the Title to conduct a range of activities, including building new structures.
  • Unit title is generally used for apartments.  This gives freehold title to your unit and any garaging. This form of title often has common legal areas and shares responsibility for any common property that generally includes on-going obligations to a body corporate.
  • Leasehold is less common and is where someone else owns the land that you then lease back and generally pay rent for.  With a leasehold ownership there are often restrictions on what you can do on the land.
How to get a Certificate of Title

You can access a range of different Titles from qv.co.nz.  You can start with the basic details contained in the Certificate of Title Details report or get an official copy of a Title or Instrument document.  The key Title reports that you’ll find most useful are:

  • Certificate of Title details – this allows you to check the basic Title information including ownership and legal details and key interests on the property.  It allows you to identify whether you may need further Title information such as a Plan or Instrument document.  This report is available for $5.00 by simply searching for a property on qv.co.nz.
  • Certificate of Title (including diagram) – this an official copy of the Title and includes ownership and legal details, a brief description of any interests on the property and a diagram showing boundary information.  This document is available for $12.95 by ordering through our Title document service.
  • Instrument – this shows the details of a specific interest on the property.  This is particularly useful when trying to understand the impacts of any covenants or easements. This document is available for $12.95 by ordering through our Title document service.
  • View the full list of Title documents available from qv.co.nz

To order a Title document you will need to know the certificate of title number, land district and instrument number. If you are unsure of any of these details you can find them out for most properties by searching for the property by address and purchasing a Certificate of title details report.

Make an informed decision

The Certificate of Title is a key piece of information that you should check when interested in buying a property. While the detailed search can be left to your lawyer once you finalise your offer on a property, the Certificate of Title is equally important in the initial stages of a property purchase too. QV.co.nz  provides  a Certificate of Title details and Title document service that makes it easy for you to access this information to help you make an informed decision. Remember, if you are unsure about anything that appears on a Title we recommend you consult your lawyer  as you don’t want to discover any nasty surprises once it’s too late.