Many land owners with title deeds are so happy keep the ownership document clean. Certainly they should. But a title deed cleanness goes beyond physical status. To say that your title is clean means more than having dirty marks on it. Technically, a clean title means that the lans is devoid of any encumbrances and hence fit for the next transaction.
Now, to keep your body clean, you need a shower on regular basis. You need to wear clean clothes and shoes. Actually, cleanliness goes beyond the visible aspects. Similarly, to ensure your land is clean, you need go beyond the title at hand. Herein, I suggest three irreducible “clean-check” habits or disciplines.
First, there is conducting periodic title search.
The details of the title you own are fully documented in the respective Land registry that covers where your land is located. For example, my Mang’u (Nakuru) plot details are found in Nakuru Land registry. The registry is usually indicated on the first page of the title where it was issued.
Conducting a land search entails filling a required form and attaching the copies of the title, ID and KRA pin certificate. After paying a search fee, the documents are lodged at the Land registry. Depending on the purpose, the staff go on to pull out the land file and inspect it then write the report on the form.
Once done, the land registrar authenticates the search with his or her signature, stamp and seal. This search is a legal document that gives the actual status of the land in question. Depending on the findings of the search, one can term the land clean or otherwise. Ideally, every land owner should conduct a search every 2-3 years on each parcel. In the event that any of your plot is ever caught in any unfortunate fraud or illegality issue, your searches will rescue the situation.
The second cleanness check is land rates or rent payment.
Any freehold land attracts land rates while leaseholders pay land rent. Both payments are done annually. Failure to remit land rate or rent attracts penalty and interests on compounding basis.
A land is considered clean if it has no outstanding land rate or land rent. Further, the government sees the one who pays land rates or rent as an interested party on the land in question. Thereby, your land is clean not only because the land rate or rent is paid but more importantly if you are the one who has actually been paying. The third party can easily spoil your ownership party should the devil be his or her tenant. Remember, the only sure landlord you know is either yours or you!
The third crucial land cleanness check is ensuring that your parcel is rightly placed in the survey map.
Every parcel number on the title deed is diagrammatically represented in a map called Registry Index Map (RIM). RIM are drawn and kept at the District Land Survey Department. Whenever a parcel of land is either subdivided or combined, the survey map is amended accordingly. A clean land needs not only be present in the RIM but also rightly placed.
There are instances where plots have been interchanged or swapped. In such cases, unsuspecting neighbors could have the right title but living in someone’s else plot. You don’t want to make such a mistake and land in the hands of your enemy or a malicious human thing.
So, hey, is your land clean? Is the land you are interested in buying clean? Have you ascertained it? Usibahatishe