Consternation in the Pietermaritzburg Deeds Office
The heading sounds a bit like the over-dramatic headlines used in newspapers. But let me explain.
Yesterday a notice was sent out to conveyancers by the Assistant Registrar of Deeds, Pietermaritzburg to the effect that some clerks were taking out examiner’s notes at prep and further that such conduct was inappropriate and should be discontinued. Then another notice was sent out by the same person to advise that some conveyancing firms were sending “clerks” [i.e. not qualified conveyancers] to “execute deeds on behalf of their principals” and that this “is highly inappropriate and illegal”. The notice went further to state that as from Monday, 16th January 2012, only conveyancers would be allowed in the execution room during execution times.
The responses from various conveyancers were swift in coming in. Here are some of them:
“Why not take action against the firms that have caused the problem instead of prejudicing all of us”
“..(has) this totally unacceptable conduct been reported by the Registrar to the Law Society . . ?”
“can anyone enlighten us as to what the clerks do at execution”
“I assume that what the notice seeks to convey is that clerks are not to be delegated the duty of ''handing in'' deeds in the absence of the executing conveyancer? Clerks are obviously not entitled to sign any deeds - for obvious reasons - nor are they entitled to sign the lodgement covers. They have never been authorised to do this, and must never be permitted to do so.”
“It will be impossible for conveyancers to finish executing within the time required if they can’t be assisted with the administrative stuff.”
“Did the offending conveyancer allow his/her clerk to actually sign the deed on his/her behalf [horrors!!], or did he allow the clerk to hand the deeds in after execution, but in the conveyancers absence?”
“It sounds like there was a particular encounter that was inappropriate. It must be dealt with on its own merits to restore the great and efficient relationship that the Government has with the Private sector. The Deeds Offices must be congratulated and celebrated for being one of the few government departments that maintains a consistently high standard of professional service delivery.”
The point to remember is that any deed of transfer or bond which is not signed by the conveyancer, [and signed by a clerk] would be invalid.
Regards
Sieg
Quote:
“I wish to be cremated. One tenth of my ashes shall be given to my agent, as written in our contract.”
Groucho Marx as quoted in Josh Kaufman’s “The Personal MBA”
