A new Act was enacted namely the Law Concerning the Transfer and Mortgaging of Immovable Property (Amended) No. 10 Law of 2015 and accordingly, it shall be read in conjunction with the Articles of the Transfer and Mortgaging of Immovable Property Laws of 1965 to (No.9) of 2015. The purpose of this legislation is to resolve the problems that purchasers of immovable property are facing when they are trying to obtain Title Deeds due to the fact that although they have either repaid in full or partially the seller due to the land being mortgaged by the seller and his/her economic inability to release the immovable property from such mortgage the purchasers are left with no title deeds.
Under certain conditions and depending on each case, the Director of the Lands Registry Department has the authority to exempt, eliminate, transfer, and remove mortgages or other encumbrances, for the purpose of issuing title deeds for the purchaser’s benefit. An application will need to be submitted at the Lands Registry Department to consider the purchaser’s claim in issuing a title deed and in case the full purchase price has not been settled the Director of the Lands Registry Department may within 30 days from the submission of the said application demand the settlement of the balance before proceeding. If the purchase neglects, omits or denies settling the remaining balance the Director of the Lands Registry Department may proceed with the transfer of the immovable property but with a penalty of 50% on the transfer fees increased by 50%. A requirement for submitting such an application is for a contract of sale to be already submitted at the Lands Registry Department. The procedure of transferring a property and issuing a title deed will take at least six to seven months, where titles in the developer’s name exist and no serious objections are raised.