REPLACEMENT OF LOST LAND TITLE DOCUMENTS HELD AS SECURITY BY FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

From our experience, other than individual property owners, financial institutions may also lose titles against which loan advances have been made to borrowers. Given that the titles are lost while in the custody of the financial institution having legitimate interest in the property, the law permits and due diligence demands that an application for replacement of the lost be made as soon as the facts of loss are known.

Generally, the process for replacement of loss of title entails:

1.       Obtaining a police abstract to confirm the lost of the title and circumstances of the loss;

2.       Execution of a statutory declaration/affidavit by the person who has lost the title explaining the circumstances in which the title was lost and effort taken to locate the missing title. The applicant also undertakes to indemnity the government from any liability that may arise as a result of the re-issuance of the title or a provisional certificate of title;

3.       Obtaining and attaching a search report to the duly signed statutory declaration;

4.       Lodging of the documents to the relevant Land registrar for approval;

5.       The Land Registrar would upon approval, write a letter to the Government Printers authorizing gazettement.

6.       On expiry of 60 days (if the property is registered under RLA) or 90 days (if the property is registered under RTA or other registration regimes) from the date of gazettement of the application for provisional title, the Gazette Notice is taken to Land Registrar, who will then issue a new title; and

Our experience is that the process takes approximately 60 – 120 days to be completed depending on the regime under which the property is registered. Our services in the replacement process can therefore be summarized as:

1.       Obtaining police abstracts on loss of title; and

2.       Applying for Provisional Titles on your behalf.

Please note that the documents required to process a replacement of lost titles include: a Police Abstract, Copy of the Title, Affidavit by the proprietor of the property of the financial institution’s legal officer, and the Statutory Declaration.

In regard to costs, whereas the legal fees for obtaining a replacement varies depending on the complexity of each matter, handling charges for obtaining Police Abstracts doesn’t exceed Kshs. 500.00

Please contact us at stralexgroup@gmail.com for any enquiries relating to applications for replacement of lost titles in Kenya.

Teddy OKELLO

MD & Group CEO

STRATEGIC LEGAL SOLUTIONS GROUP