Land Titles Act 1993 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 3 · Initial Registration of Titles
25. Cautions and lapsing of cautions
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Upon the creation of a qualified folio, the Registrar must enter thereon a caution warning persons dealing with the registered proprietor therein named that the land comprised therein is held subject to any interest which affected it at the date of the creation of that folio, and so long as the caution remains on that folio that land is so held.
A caution recorded on any qualified folio (whether created under this Act or the repealed Land Titles Act (Cap. 157, 1985 Revised Edition)) lapses in one of the following ways:
land
“land” means —(a)the surface of any defined parcel of the earth, so much of the subterranean space below and so much of the column of airspace above the surface whether or not held apart from the surface as is reasonably necessary for the proprietor’s use and enjoyment, and includes any estate or interest therein and all vegetation growing thereon and structures affixed thereto; or(b)any parcel of airspace or any subterranean space whether or not held apart from the surface of the earth and described with certainty by reference to a plan approved by the Chief Surveyor and filed with the Authority, and includes any estate or interest therein and all vegetation growing thereon and structures affixed thereto,and where the context so permits, the proprietorship of land includes natural rights to air, light, water and support and the right of access to any highway on which the land abuts;
if, after the creation of the qualified folio, a purchaser for valuable consideration and without fraud becomes registered as proprietor of an estate or interest in the land comprised in the folio, the caution lapses as regards the estate or interest on the expiry of 5 years after the date of the last deed which was cancelled by the Registrar on the creation of the folio;
if, immediately before the expiry of 10 years after the creation of the qualified folio, the caution affecting the folio has not lapsed as regards all estates and interests in the land comprised in the folio or has not been cancelled, the caution lapses —
on the expiry of that period; or
on the expiry of 24 months after 20 August 2001,whichever is the later.
A mortgagee or chargee is not regarded as a purchaser for the purposes of subsection (2).
purchaser
“purchaser” means a person who, in good faith and for valuable consideration, acquires an estate or interest in land, and includes a mortgagee, chargee and lessee; and
When a caution lapses under subsection (2), the lapsed caution constitutes a defunct entry and the Registrar must, of his or her own motion, cause an entry to be made in respect of the lapsing of the caution.
Upon the lapsing of a caution under subsection (2), the folio ceases to be qualified and the land comprised therein is as from that time held subject only to such interests as are registered or notified on the folio and to such interests as are otherwise excepted by section 46.
folio
“folio” means a folio of the land‑register, whether qualified or unqualified as to title;
Any person deprived of land by the operation of this section does not by reason of that deprivation have any claim against the assurance fund.
assurance fund
“assurance fund” means the assurance fund constituted under section 151;