The Law Society Gazette is carrying an article this week – Proof of identity rules will hit home hard – on the Land Registry’s new ID procedures.
Many concerns are being raised by delegates in training courses relating to the new rules. For example: What is the shelf-life of an ID Form? (There isn’t one). Can we take an ID form at face value if it appears to have been signed by a solicitor? (No. Check that the solicitor is genuine. The Land Registry may well do so.) Who is a “conveyancer”? (See rule 217 LRR 2003). Is a foreign notary a conveyancer? (No. Check the definition. He/she does not appear to be within it). Should we trust the authenticity of a DS1 that appears to emanate from a UK bank or building society recognised by the CML? (No. If the DS1 is fake, you would be negligent to have trusted that it was genuine without further enquiry). Do the ID rules apply where a lender consents to the grant of a lease? (No). Or where a restrictioner provides a certificate or consent under a restriction? (No).
Where deciding to rely upon an ID form in a transaction, some practitioners have pointed out the lack of certainty in Land Registry Practice Guide 67 which states, at paragraph 2 “…in all cases we reserve the right to carry out identity checks and additional verification procedures with respect to identity.” Could an application to register fail even though reliance had been placed upon an ID form? (The answer must be “yes” if the ID form is fake. However, at least the lawyer who relied upon it, having checked that the name of the conveyancer was genuine, ought not to be guilty of negligence).
As mentioned earlier this month (http://www.propertypsl.co.uk/node/190), it might not be a bad idea for the Law Society to look again at its Code for Completion – if only at least to remind conveyancers of the risks arising at completion of a transaction, and the steps that can be taken to minimise them.