Five Signs Your Title Deed May Not Be What You Think

Most people only inspect their title deed once, on the day they receive it, and then file it away. Yet a deed can be a copy, sit in the wrong name, or carry a debt you were never told about, and still look convincing. With the move to digital deeds under SI 76 of 2025, every deed will eventually be checked anyway. It is far better to find a problem now, on your own terms, than during a sale that then collapses.

Five signs worth checking

1. It is a copy, not the original. A genuine deed carries the Deeds Registry stamp and the Registrar's details. If all you hold is a photocopy, or you cannot trace the original at the Registry, you cannot prove clean ownership and you cannot transfer the property.
2. The name on it is not the seller's, or yours. If you bought the property but the deed still shows the previous owner, transfer was never completed. You hold an agreement, not ownership. See Cession Is Not Ownership.
3. The details do not match the Registry record. The deed number, stand number, size or owner on your paper should match exactly what the Deeds Registry holds. Any mismatch is a red flag for fraud or for a clerical error that will block a sale.
4. The boundaries do not match the ground. If there is no approved diagram, or the pegs and beacons on site do not match the diagram, you may not own what you think you own. See The Stand That Moved.
5. There is a bond, caveat or dispute you never knew about. A deed can carry a registered mortgage bond, a caveat, or a court interdict that limits what you can do with the property. These do not show on the face of an old paper deed unless you search for them.

How to be sure

Every one of these can be confirmed with a deeds search at the Deeds Registry, matching your paper against the official record. A legal practitioner can carry out that search, read what it returns, and tell you whether your title is clean, defective, or carrying something you should know about. This is also the exact check the new validation process will require, so doing it early puts you ahead.