The information provided in this guide is not intended to amount to legal advice. Professional assistance may be required to determine the most appropriate action to protect your legal rights. Please read our Terms of Use on the Land Titles Registration policy and procedure guides web page. Landgate accepts no responsibility where parties print this guide and seek to rely on information that is out of date.
1. Overview4
Where a Court Order affects land, the Registrar of Titles should be joined as a party to the action.
Writs of Summons and Court Orders must be served on the Registrar at Landgate’s Midland office or in a specified manner in accordance with the Rules of the Supreme Court.
Where served in person, the sealed copy or eFiled copy of any Court Orders must be sighted by a responsible officer (preferably an Assistant Registrar) from the Dealings Section of Landgate at the time of service.
Care should be taken to correctly serve Writs or Court Orders to avoid delays in the Registrar of Titles taking appropriate action.
4Section updated 26/06/2023
1.1 Service of Writs/Orders - Cover Letter5
Any Writs or Orders should be accompanied by a covering letter which clearly identifies who the appropriate contact person is and their best contact details. The items/documents served should also be clearly itemised.
The above ensures a timely response or means of contact, if the Registrar of Titles should need to notify the submitter of any responses.
5Section added 26/06/2023
1.2. Orders to extend the operation of a caveat1
An Order may be granted by the Supreme Court of WA pursuant to section 138B of the Transfer of Land Act 1893 (TLA) to extend the operation of a caveat following Application under this provision to remove the caveat.
Instruction on how and where these Orders can be served are located on the 21 day notice served on the caveator and also in CAV-05 Caveat - removal
1Section 1.1 added 23/03/2022
2. Registrar’s Packets2
A Registrar’s Packet is an administrative mechanism that enables the Registrar of Titles to monitor a certificate of title for a particular reason to ensure that documents lodged in respect of that certificate of title are carefully considered by one of Landgate’s legal officers prior to registration.
These titles are merely marked subject to the Registrar’s packet and will result in a search of the Register watermarked with Subject to Dealing or Other Action. Registrar’s Packets involving digital titles are created by Sundry Document type XP.
The most common reasons for creating a Registrar’s Packet are:
- that the Registrar of Titles has been served with copies of court proceedings, court orders or injunctions relating to land in a particular certificate of title
or
- the Registrar is put on notice that there may be defective or potentially defective documents that have been registered, lodged and not yet registered or that may be lodged in the future.
By way of example, the need for a Registrar’s Packet arises in the situation where an injunction has been served upon the Registrar of Titles. The TLA contains no provision for an injunction to be recorded on the register. It is therefore necessary to give notice of the injunction by creating the Registrar’s Packet in turn marking the title “Subject to Dealing”. If this is not done, dealings may be lodged and subsequently registered in breach of the injunction.
The creation of a Registrar’s Packet does not, of itself, prevent lodgement or registration of documents nor changes to the Register, unless the action or relevant legislation restrains the Registrar of Titles from processing valid land transactions.
A title will generally remain in a Registrar’s Packet until one or more of the following occurs:
- Where a registered proprietor, other party or the Registrar of Titles is restrained from dealing with property the subject of the order, the Registrar of Titles will not register any dealing lodged for registration until the restraining order is lifted or an order is obtained authorising such registration.
- Notice of discontinuance or resolution of the court proceedings or an appropriate order of the Court.
- A withdrawal of the Freezing Notice/Order.
- A respective document is lodged in accordance with an Order.
It is possible to obtain information about a Registrar’s Packet that has been created by ordering a Status Report from Landgate’s Customer Services Contact Centre.
Note: For more information on Status Reports, see REG-05 Service of Court Orders on the Registrar.
2Section updated 23/03/2022
3. Status Reports (on Registrar’s Packets)
Freedom of information legislation limits access to information connected with any court action or other matters that are the subject of a Registrar’s Packet.
A Status Report is the mechanism by which Landgate customers can obtain identical information pertaining to a particular Registrar’s Packet. This will assist clients to make informed decisions pertaining to the conduct of settlements in land.
A Status Report will be signed and dated by an Assistant Registrar of Titles and will contain the following information:
- a list of all certificates of title, crown leases, dealings and surveys held in or subject to the Registrar’s Packet
- the reason for the creation and/or continuation of the Registrar’s Packet
- where court orders are involved, the Court Action number, the parties to the action, the solicitors acting for the parties and a general description of the orders sought will be provided
and
- Landgate’s requirements for disbanding the Registrar’s Packet.
A Status Report can be ordered from Customer Services Contact Centre upon completion of the Request for Status Report Form and payment of the prescribed fee.3
3Paragraph updated 23/03/2022