Any person claiming to be entitled to or beneficially interested in any land, or any person transferring land to be held on trust, is allowed to lodge a caveat preventing dealings with the land.

In this Blog I look at how to remove a caveat against dealings.

Removing a caveat

There are three ways to remove a caveat:

  1. The caveat can be withdrawn by the caveator (the person who lodged the caveat);
  2. By a court order for removal of a caveat;
  3. The caveat may lapse (on application by the owner or another person).

Withdrawal of caveat

The caveator may withdraw a caveat either in whole or as to part of the land affected by the caveat. This is by far the easiest, but often the most unlikely, way of removing a caveat.

Order for removal of caveat

The owners, or any other affected persons, can apply to the High Court for an order that the caveat be removed. The Court, on proof that notice of the application has been served on the caveator the Court may make such order “as to the Court it seems meet”.

The caveat will be removed if there was no valid ground for lodging it, or if the valid ground no longer exists. The caveator only needs to establish that there is an arguable case that the valid ground for the caveat exists for the caveat to be sustained.

Lapse of caveat

On the application of the owner for the caveat to lapse; or on application made by any other person to register an instrument against the land, the Registrar will issue a notice of the application to the caveator. Unless the caveator takes certain steps promptly, the caveat will lapse.

Within 14 days of receiving the notice, the caveator must give notice to the Registrar that the caveator has applied to the High Court for an order that the caveat should not lapse. Within 28 days of giving that notice to the Registrar, the caveator must have served on the Registrar an order from the High Court that the caveat should not lapse. If these times limits are not met, the caveat will be deemed to have lapsed.

Where the caveator has shown an arguable case for the caveat to be sustained, these court proceedings act to keep the caveat in place until the matter is determined in a full court hearing. The proceedings do not finally determine genuinely disputed questions of fact or law.

By |6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. CARMEN COLLETT June 27, 2012 at 9:12 pm - Reply

    I PAID A DEPOSIT ON SOME LAND, I HAVE PUT A CAVEAT ON THE PROPERTY A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO, CAN IT BE REMOVED BY OWNER IN ANY WAY WITH OUT MY KNOWLEDGE?

  2. melissa March 13, 2014 at 4:25 pm - Reply

    hi there my father has been advised he needs to pay to have caveat removed the loan for was paid in full 10 years ago and the company did not remove the caveat is it the company’s responsibility to have this removed? i thought it would be part of the loan agreement hence all the fees added on top of the loan and my father is now being told 10 years on that he needs to pay $380 to have it removed?

    thanks
    Melissa Malesala

  3. PETER CHARLES WALTERS June 16, 2014 at 6:04 pm - Reply

    the bank put a caveat on my land title a few years ago when I got a bank loan. the loan has been repaid some years ago and now they are telling us it is going to cost around $500 to remove it. how do I go about getting it removed?

    • Isy June 21, 2014 at 8:28 pm - Reply

      Hi Peter. Thanks for your enquiry. You will need to use a lawyer to discharge the mortgage from the title. This will involve liaising with the bank to obtain authority to discharge the mortgage and confirmation that no money is owing. You will also need to sign an Authority and Instruction Form for the lawyer to attend to the discharge on Landonline. Please contact us for more information and for a quote.

  4. Tasha MacKenzie July 13, 2014 at 9:15 am - Reply

    Hi, I’m looking for a lawyer who can help…this is my situation in a nutshell…

    March 2012 I took a personal loan from Advanti Finance for $2000 through finance broker Future Finance. The broker told me it was unsecured. My financial situation deteriorated badly and I filed bankruptcy June 2012. Advanti Finance filed a caveat on property I own half share of.

    The Official Assigned deemed my property to have no value in the estate to benefit my creditors (100% mortgage & property disrepaired).

    Do I wait until I’m discharged bankrupt to apply to the High Court to remove the caveat?

    I believe the caveat should be removed for the following reasons…

    The property was not named on the loan papers.

    I filed bankruptcy to absolve all my debts because I cant pay, why should I be continued to be held over by Advanti Finance?

    The co-owner of the property I not happy about the caveat remaining.

    I would so appreciated your direction and a quote on what it would cost to handle the matter. Thank you.

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