193 Lost Indefeasible Certificate Of Title

PRACTICE

Procedures Followed by Registered Owner and Registrar

Where a duplicate indefeasible title has been lost or destroyed and cannot be produced, the registered owner and the registrar follow the following procedures:

1. The registered owner must file proof of loss or destruction by affidavit with the registrar:
   1. stating the indefeasible title number, legal description of the land, and name of the registered owner;
   2. describing particulars as to delivery of the duplicate indefeasible title from the time it was taken from the land title office to its receipt by the registered owner and the circumstances of its loss and efforts made to find it;
   3. stating that the registered owner has been in uninterrupted legal possession of the land for a certain number of years without any adverse claim having been made on the registered owner;
   4. stating that the registered owner has never pledged the duplicate indefeasible title or hypothecated it by way of security for a loan or otherwise except as set out in the affidavit; and
   5. stating the present market value of the land including any improvements on it.
2. Where the duplicate indefeasible title has passed through several hands after delivery from the land title office, the registered owner should obtain affidavits from each party so as to establish the continuity or chain of events leading to the loss or destruction.
3. If satisfied with the proof of loss or destruction, the registrar supplies the applicant with the form of notice to be published in the B.C. Gazette for a specified number of insertions. In some cases the registrar may dispense with publication under s. 193(4). The following is an example of the form of publication.
   
4. The registered owner or the registered owner’s agent files a statutory declaration establishing that the applicant has complied with the advertising requirements of the registrar.
5. If satisfied that the applicant has met the advertising requirements, the registrar cancels the duplicate. In practice, since computerization, a provisional certificate of title is not issued.

Electronic Applications

The initial application to the registrar may be made electronically using the electronic Form 17 Charge, Notation, or Filing and selecting as the Nature of Interest Provisional Indefeasible Title. The proof of loss or destruction by statutory declaration from the registered owner(s) or, where applicable, from the party(ies) whose hands the duplicate indefeasible title has passed through and, where applicable, subsequent proof of advertising may be attached to a corrective declaration and submitted following the initial application.

The initial application receives preliminary examination prior to receiving an immediate application number, date, and time.

CROSS REFERENCES AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Effect Given to Provisional Indefeasible Titles

See s. 194 of the Act.

Provisional Certificate of Title to Minerals

The registrar may issue a provisional certificate of title to minerals where an owner has lost a certificate of title to minerals. See s. 196 of this Act.

Equitable Mortgage or Lien Not Registrable

Note that an equitable mortgage or lien created by the deposit of a duplicate indefeasible title is not registrable. See s. 33 of the Act.

Secondary Sources

See Di Castri, Registration of Title to Land, vol. 1, para. 300.