Application Forms

What should I do when the county is missing from the application form?

The eForms system does not populate the county field on forms at the top of page 1. Some agents are handwriting this on, and others are leaving this blank. Omission of the county is therefore not grounds for rejection.

What should I do if the agent has selected the wrong application type?

The selection of application type by Agents has caused some confusion. The following list provides details of application types:

Deed over unregistered plot - disposition or notice of title of subjects not transferred into the Land Register and previously an FR.
Deed over the whole of a registered plot (s. 21(2)(c)) - applies to deeds, previously DWs, and also to a deed accompanying a transfer deed at bulletpoints 1 or 3. Where the deed is submitted separately, there should be details of the other deed narrated in the form under "Additional information" to allow intake to pull the deeds together into one application.
Deed over part of registered plot - depending on the deed this can equate to a former TP - disposition - or a DW - standard security.
Automatic Plot Registration - usually the registrable deed here is a lease or an assignation of lease. This application type is appropriate where the owner's title (the plot) is unregistered. Where the owner's title is registered, the application type for a lease or assignation would be either of bullet points 2. or 3.
Voluntary Registration - used where the owner of land wishes to register their plot and no transaction inducing registration in the Land Register is taking place, or (since 1 April 2016) when a standard security is granted over unregistered subjects - see Voluntary Registration as a Result of the Closure of the Sasine Register to Standard Securities.

There are situations where rejection is appropriate, e.g. where the application type incorrectly selected leads to fewer questions being answered and the Keeper potentially lacking information to allow completion of the Land Register. In contrast, if the applicant has answered more questions than are necessary for their correct type of application, then rejection is not necessary provided that the officer can identify the correct type of application to create in LRS. Application for Registration - Part B indicates which questions should appear on the printed version of the application form in which types of application.

If the application type selected means that fewer questions have been answered, e.g. deed over whole of a registered plot is actually selected, but deed over unregistered plot should have been selected, rejection is appropriate. This is typically because the Keeper will not have sufficient information to complete the Land Register mapping and title sheet(s) required. See Rejection - General Application Conditions for further information on this condition of registration. When a plot is being registered for the first time, there are questions concerned with encumbrances and so on which assist in the completion of the title sheet. Another example would be if the applicant had selected deed over part of a registered plot for a sub-lease, where the owner's title was not registered and the application ought to have been submitted as an APR.

However, if the application type selected means that more questions appear on the form than is necessary (see Application for Registration - Part B), then rejection is not necessary for reason only than the wrong application type being selected.

Table of Contents

Disposition by executors

Agents appear to be misunderstanding the question on the application form confirming whether or not the granter is the registered proprietor. The Forms guidance states the applicant can select No and by signing the application form this is certifying to the Keeper that the appropriate links in title are in place. To clarify, intake and settlers can accept an answer No to this question as the form will need to be signed or it will be rejected.

A further problem occurs when the question is answered No, as the eForms system then automatically defaults to Yes for the prescriptive claimant's question. This can be changed back to No by the agent but some agents are unaware of this. A system issue has been raised with IT service desk to request that the prescriptive claimant's question defaults to No as this will be the case for the vast majority of applications. Meantime, these applications are to be considered by referral officers to determine whether or not it is a true prescriptive claimant application. Referral officers can consult with a senior adviser as necessary.

No agent's reference on application form

This omission impacts on eFin, preventing the application from being confirmed without something in this field. This appears to be a legacy problem, and settlers are advised to adopt the workaround used in their area pre designated day. The important point to note is that this omission is not grounds for rejection of the application.

Deed Codes

Can I enter deed codes manually? There is no option to use deed codes 326 and 327.

There is only one deed code for dispositions in the LRS picklist for 2012 applications. Therefore former deed codes should not be entered manually.

In recognition of any difficulties the removal of the benefitted/burdened deed codes may have for searchers, the following additional information should be added by intake staff:

Transfer of ownership application

In the Additional Information field on the LRS add Dual registration with [Application no(s).] Granter/grantee should be added to the details field as normal. This will result in the parties populating the notification and the receipt, with all information populating RD.

Dual Registration Application

In the Additional Information field on the LRS add Dual registration with [Application no(s).] in the details field please also add dual registration only before details of the granter/grantee. This will result in the parties and the wording "dual registration only" populating the notification and receipt, and all the details populating RD.

The LRS

NANs - Copy in Certificate

NAN's must not be added for 2012 casework. This page includes a section with instructions for dealing with existing copy in certificate entries and existing NANs.

Changes to the LRS

List of changes to the LRS for the 2012 Act.

Standard Securities

Designations in standard securities

Agents have been requesting details of the Keeper's statutory authority to insist on "incorporated under …" being included as part of a company designation. S.113(1) of the 2012 Act provides that in the case of the Land Register, designation includes:

(a) where the person designated is not a natural person

(i) the legal system under which the person is incorporated or otherwise established.

This information and additional details are available from our website in the Application for Registration Form - Guidance Notes.

Rejections

Where a security is rejected as neither the deed nor the application form states the legal system under which the company is established, it is recommended additional information is included in the rejection letter. The following statement is to be added to the rejection letter in these circumstances:

The above application has been rejected because the designation in the title sheet must include, for a company incorporated under the Companies Acts, the legal system under which said company is incorporated or otherwise established. This means that the deed fails to satisfy the condition noted overleaf.

1979 Versus 2012

Some areas are receiving comments from agents concerned there is an inconsistency of approach on acceptance of TP applications pre and post designated day, for example TPs under the 1979 Act in standover field are not rejected due to lack of OS detail. Our approach will continue to be to meet the stated acceptance/rejection criteria for 2012 Act applications and advise our customers that 1979 practices were only applicable to 1979 Act applications.

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