The Deeds Office Process Explained

Any property transaction has a Transferring Attorney who will attend to the transfer from the Seller's name into the Buyer's name.




You will get an update that the attorneys are ready to lodge or that the transaction has been lodged.
But what does this mean?

GETTING READY TO LODGE
The Conveyancer of the Transfer attorney firm will arrange upfront to meet the Conveyancer of the Bond attorney firm and the Conveyancer of the Cancellation attorney firm at the Deeds Office at the Lodgement counter.

They link all their transactions to be handed in as one batch. This is also referred to by the conveyancing world as simuls as these transactions need to be registered simultaneously.

• The transfer document will be filed in a white lodgement cover.
• The bond documents will be filed in a blue lodgement cover.
• The cancellation documents will be filed in a yellow lodgement cover, (This may be different for the various Deeds Offices)

LODGEMENT
The Clerk at the Deeds Office will scan the bar code into a database called DOTS (Deeds Office Tracking System).
The status on the DOTS is set to Lodgement and can now be tracked by the different online systems that the attorneys use.

LINK BATCHES
The Clerk makes sure that all the various transactions listed on the front page is actually inside the file.
If all is in order, then the status on DOTS is changed to Link batches

DATA PREPARATION
The Clerk then does a Deeds Office search on the seller, the purchaser and the property.
The DOTS status is changed to Data Preparation.

• The Clerk then includes these searches into the file so that it can be checked by the examiners.

LEVEL 1
Junior Level – Sorting of Deeds
The file is given to a junior examiner.
The bar code is scanned and the status on the DOTS is updated to Level 1

• The examiner makes sure that the property on the searches and the property on the documents are the same.
• The examiner also makes sure that the seller is the actual owner of the property.
• The examiner makes sure that all the documents as mentioned on the cover is in the file.
• The junior examiner will check for spelling mistakes on names, id’s and property descriptions.
• The Junior Examiner will make sure the Rates Clearance Certificate is still valid.
• The Junior Examiner will also make sure that all relevant taxes to SARS were paid. For this purpose, the Transfer Attorney will attach the Transfer Duty Receipt to his batch of documents.
• The junior examiner will make notes on the documents if they find any mistakes or anything they don’t agree with.

LEVEL 2
Senior Level – Sorting of Deeds
The file is given to a senior examiner.
The bar code is scanned and the status on the DOTS is updated to Level 2.

• The senior examiner confirms that all the documents are in the batch as per the junior examiner in level 1.
• The senior examiner also checks the data on the documents.
• If the junior examiner raised a concern by way of a note on the cover page, the senior examiner would check to see if these notes are valid. The senior examiner will also add notes of his own if he finds any need to do so.
• The senior examiner can also check whether the documents are legally correct.
• The senior examiner then decides whether the pack of documents can proceed or must be rejected.
• If a pack is rejected, it is sent back - the complete batch of document, to ensure that the conveyancers sort the notes on the documents out – regardless of who’s document has the issue on. Once the issue has been sorted, all the attorney firms need to re-lodge their documents and the process start all over again. Sometimes re-lodgement goes a bit quicker than a brand new set of documents.
• Sometimes the senior examiner finds something on the documents that are very minor in his opinion and can be fixed. The pack is then not rejected, but given back to the conveyancer to fix. When they bring the document back, the process continues from where it stopped. There is no need then to go back to the start.
• All notes are not necessarily errors from the Attorney’s side. Some notes are because of name changes by certain Government Bodies by political parties, new legislation that was passed and amendments are required to legal clauses on the documents.

LEVEL 3
Final Checking
The file is given to the Assistant Registrar.
The bar code is scanned and the status on the DOTS is updated to Level 3.

• The Assistant Registrar will go through the notes from Level 2 on the various Deeds and decide to either pass or reject the deeds.
• The Assistant Registrar has the power to remove notes from the Senior Examiner if he does not agree with the notes.
• If the senior examiner missed something and the Assistant Registrar picks it up, then he can add a note to the cover and reject the batch of documents.
• When all in order and no rejections are found on the document, then the Assistant Registrar will pass the Deeds and it will be given the thumbs up to proceed.

ON PREP
Preparation
The batch of documents are sent to the preparation room.
The bar code is scanned and the status on the DOTS is updated to On Prep.

• The deeds may still have notes, but they will be minor and does not justify a rejection of the entire batch.
• Deeds are on prep for 5 days to allow any minor notes to be dealt with. All the conveyancers can then get authorisation from the relevant banks to proceed to registration of the Deeds.
• When all the different conveyancers are ready, the deeds are put forward for registration.

REGISTRATION
The deeds are received the day after they are handed in for registration. It never happens on the same day as when the documents were On Prep.
It may stay for 4 days in this phase. If not registered by the 4th day the deeds are automatically rejected and the status on DOTS is set back to Level 1.

• The Registrar of Deeds will sign the Deeds and put his stamp on the Deeds.
• The status on DOTS is updated to Registration.
• This is when all the attorneys advise their clients and the bank that the property is now officially registered in the name of the new owner.
• Only the DOTS system will at this point show that the transaction has been registered. The actual Deeds Office database takes a few weeks to show the new details.

DATA CAPTURE
From registration, it goes to a Data Capturer who will capture all the details manually onto the Deeds Office Database.
It is possible that errors may occur as the data is captured manually into the Deeds Office System.

MICROFILMING
After the transaction is captured on the Deeds Office Database, it gets captured on microfilm and the original Deeds are sent back to the Conveyancers.
ONLY NOW will the Transferring Attorney be able to give the new owner a DEEDS OFFICE SEARCH approved and accepted by the COUNCILS showing that the property is registered in their name. Now the previous owner can take this DEEDS OFFICE SEARCH to the Council to close his rates account and the new owner can take this DEEDS OFFICE SEARCH to the Council to open a new account.

DELIVERED
If there is a bond over the property, the original Deeds go back to the bank. If the new owner needs a copy of this document, they will have to contact the bank for a copy and may be charged for this copy.
If it was a cash sale, the Conveyancer will send it to the new owner of the property. Please keep this document in a safe place. You will need it again when you sell your property again in a few years.