Conveyances

There are more ways to acquire property rights than by simply taking possession of a tangible thing. There are 4 main ways of transferring/generating legal property rights (generally requires more formality than doing the same to equitable property rights) and these are delivery, deeds, registration and by contracts. In conveyances we are concerned with the first 3.

Delivery

The normal way to make a gift or bailment is by delivery. It is stil possible to create a short leasehold estate (of up to 3 years) without documents or registration, simply by deliver of possession to the tenant

Is an act of delivery required to transfer goods? In Thomas v Times Book Co Ltd the court says it, along with an intention of making gift, is required. The case also informs that it is for the receiver of the gift to prove the gift was made. Further to this, the case states that as the person who made the gift is dead (Dylan Thomas), all the evidence should be treated with ‘suspicion’ and ‘great care’. The question in the case was really whether sufficient delivery occurred to perfect the gift and the court held that it did, and that Cleverdon got possession of the manuscript from the Soho public-house in which it had been left by Thomas and that he got that possession with the consent of Thomas is sufficient delivery.

In Re Cole it was determined that sufficient delivery was not made between the husband and wife in the case as a perfect gift of chattels is not constituted by merely showing them to the done and speaking words of gift. In the ordinary case where a wife lives with her husband in a houseowned and furnished by him, she has the use of the furniture by virtue of her position as wife, but that gives her no more possession of it than a servant has who uses the furniture and in the absence of delivery there is no title in her and therefore in this case, the ‘gift’ of the furniture was never perfected.

Deeds

Documents are used to transfer goods when the goods are especially valuable or when the owner wants to transfer title but not possession. Documents are used to transfer title to intangible things such as copyrights.

What is a deed and what is required to make a valid deed? A deed is a written instrument that, as of the case Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council v Torkington, needs to be signed, sealed and delivered to be effective as in the case, the lease was sealed but not delivered and therefore not effective.

What formalities are required to create and assign a valid lease in land? As of Crago v Julian a tenancy of land cannot be created or assigned save by writing, or by will, or by operation of law and

in general, as of the Law of Property Act 1925, interests in land cannot be created or disposed of except in writing (though a lease in possession at a market rent for up to 3 years can be validly created orally). So the effect of the statutory provisions is to draw a distinction between the manner in which a short lease may be created and the manner in which it may be assigned. In this case, there is according to the judge not enough room in the statutory language to decide in favour of Mrs Julian despite the seeming injustice the decision creates it would be perfectly legal for Mrs Crago to take possession of the property as the lessor as Mrs Julian is not the official lessee as no formal deed was signed to transfer the tenancy from her ex-husband to her (a note in the divorce paper is not enough).

Registration

For transactions involving certain kinds of goods documents transferring title are normally registered eg when a ship is sold or mortgaged the bill of sale or mortgage will be registered. Registration does not transfer title to the gods but protects the title conferred by the document that is registered. Registration is the normal way to transfer legal title to land. Patents and shares in companies are registered.

Registration is another means of transferring/generating legal interests in land. If land is unregistered the first question that needs to be addressed is whether the transfer triggers compulsory registration to bring the land within the registration system (statutory answer). If it is not then the transaction can be completed by deed. If the land is already registered the question is whether the creation or transfer of an interest in that land must be registered to be effective at law (again, statutory answer).

Breskvar v Wall establishes the difference between registration of title and title by registration... the Torrens system of registered title (a system that ensures that if a title is registered in a register held by the state, then it is indefeasible) is a system of title by registration It is where registration ensures title. In contrast, registration of title is where title is registered for matters concerning ownership, possession or other rights in land can be recorded (usually with a government agency or department) to provide evidence of title, facilitate transactions and to prevent unlawful disposal.

Barclays Bank plc v Guy is a case where a fraudster executed a transfer of Mr Guy's property to himself and successfully had the transfer registered at the Land Registry so that he became the registered proprietor of the property. He then borrowed money from Barclays Bank and secured the loan with a mortgage against Mr. Guy's property. It is also a case which answers a number of legal questions. The registration of a forged transfer of land will cause legal title to be transferred, even if the document is void at common law. Why is it allowed to have this effect? Normally the victim of the forgery can recover title through rectification of the register. However, what happens if the forger deals with her or his new title before the register is rectified? This case gave the green light for banks to repossess the homes owned by the innocent victims of property fraud. The court of appeal determined that it was possible to reinstate Mr. Guy as the registered proprietor of the property but the mortgage to Barclays would remain. This meant that Barclays still had a valid power to sell the property for non payment of its loan even though Mr. Guy was not the person who had borrowed the money. This is a staggering decision which effectively means anyone could find their

property being repossessed because of the actions of a fraudster. Anyone owning property they do not live in themselves is particularly vunerable to this type of fraud.It is possible to protect yourself against this type of fraud by completing a simple form and lodging it at the Land Registry.