CAN BAD CONVEYANCING KILL YOU?
The documents on this page do not imply any wrongdoing on the part of any individuals associated with these documents or their
predecessors in title. The purpose of placing these documents on the page is to encourage debate and discussion about land titling
processes. Such debate and discussion is presently taboo in this country (Australia).
No inferences should be drawn about the behaviour of any individuals and groups associated with these titles or documents, their predecessors
in title or successors in title. Some of the matters raised below may cause some individuals concern and distress. Unless you have a strong
desire to know about how land tenure is controlled in this country then it may be better for you to press the back button on your browser at top left
of the screen. The author believes however that it is important for the future wellbeing of our society that we face up to some of the problems which can
arise from dysfunctional land registration.
BUT CONVEYANCING IS JUST ANOTHER LOW RISK ACTIVITY LIKE QUANTITY SURVEYING AND ACCOUNTING?
If we think about it for some we can come to the conclusion that an occupation as boring as quantity surveying can cause injury to a potential purchaser if the
job is done incorrectly. For instance the quantity surveyor may take short cuts which might enable the builder to use defective nails for instance. Professions such
as accounting can also cause harm to innocent consumers under some circumstances, mainly when criminal elements make use of the accountant for money laundering
purposes for instance. A better example of this problem is the situation of the bank clerk. Let us imagine that the banks in a country such as Pakistan are being used
to launder cash. Let us imagine that this laundering is being achieved by the duplication of pensioner bank accounts - in other words for each pensioner there is a
"piggy back" account which duplicates every transaction - such accounts are achievable.
Now let us imagine that a well meaning goverment official decides that he is going to stop this money laundering so he decides to introduce new computer technology
which means that accounts can only be accessed through an automatic teller machine by the computer reading the right hand print of the account holder. Such ideas are
being proposed constantly.
Now let us imagine what would happen if bank officials detect that there is an increase in the number of pensioners who come into the bank with their right hands missing.
While this sounds grotesque the example is given to make certain points about how professions and activities which seem low risk can become high risk when forms of laundering
cash become involved.
In the above bank example, it would seem logical that bank officials directly confronted with the injured pensioners might subvert the government's fail safe system because
to do otherwise would be inhumane and also because the injured pensioners would be an indication of some sort of criminal element which was being upset by the new regime.
The example of the Pakistani bank is one which should be pondered upon because whenever you have an illigitmate multiplication of files which represent money as in the case of the
pensioner accounts, there will be serious problems if there is a sudden attempt to consolidate those files. The problem is caused by the competition between the hidden criminal file or account
holder and the overt unknowing holder of the file or account.
BUT HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO LAND TITLE PROCESSING?
A land title folio or parcel identifier is really just another file. Many land title registries have processes which result in an unacceptable level of mistake. These mistakes result in
multiplied file numbers either "ghost" file numbers which don't have any data or information on them (empty files) or they are previous files which haven't been effectively cancelled and archived.
As the earlier the file the more extensive the property, criminal elements attempt to either revive old uncancelled files or else use ghost file numbers, mainly in order to raise legitimate
loans from banks. The criminal element ( who can be quite easily a respected businessman/woman or local identity or clerical officer) is then "piggybacking" on the overt file held by the overt proprietor.
If the criminal element uses false titles obtained by his or her ownership of the piggyback file then they can obtain mortgages and even sell on to other absentee proprietors who do not check their title against the ground.
Apart from a serious form of harassment which might arise as the covert title holder attempts to cause the overt proprietor to default there is not a lot of danger in the situation where land files are multiplying. However the author
believes that there is a serious risk of suicide for the overt proprietor as the harassment and feeling of dislocation caused by problems with all files and accounts connected to the defective land registration can cause despair but this will be
dealt with in another page.
The real problem arises when attempts are made to consolidate the multiplied records and files. Once again it is important to consider the above example of the Pakistani bank. If sudden attempts are made to impose a "correct" or rigorous
system on any system where there are potentially multiplied records and where these records represent money - there is a serious risk for the overt holder of the registration or account. This is because the more criminal elements which are
piggybacking on the unknowing proprietor may then attempt to "cash in" before the duplication becomes apparent. This could result in sudden and more extreme attempts to dislodge
the overt proprietor including arson, in some cases false accusations in a court of law, harassment and property crime.
BUT IF THIS WAS HAPPENING POLICE WOULD KNOW ABOUT IT!
If anyone goes to the police and complains that they are being harassed because of a defective land title they will probably be referred for psychiatric evaluation. This is because the belief that land tenure is stable in this country
is so impressed on our national psyche that anyone who says otherwise is seen as a dangerous dissenter or even as a lunatic. Another reason why police in general appear to be unable to act in this matter is that they tend to not be able to
grasp the idea of digital property. If a bank clerk for example puts $1.5m in their sister's account; forges a will which says that the bank clerk is to inherit everything and the sister dies the next day - then the police may see the
connection as digital money is seen as a motive for crime. However if someone dies suddenly and they are registered in the land titles office in such a manner as it appears as though they own much more land than they really do own - then police
simply fail to see digital land as a motive for serious crime. For example if they
are registered on a large underlying title which has not been cancelled correctly so that the person appears to own a whole subdivision rather than just one lot on that subdivision then this should be seen as a motive for crime and police should investigate
whatever manipulations of documents and records of title are used in order to achieve that result.
OKAY SO I CAN SEE THERE COULD BE A PROBLEM - BUT LAWYERS WOULD PICK IT UP.
By the time that lawyers became aware that there was a problem, there would be too much compromise involved for lawyers to be able to deal effectively with the problem. For example one of the most unusual forms of crime which result from
dysfunctional land record filing are what we could call "Power of Attorney" crimes. These crimes arise from mistakes made in filing systems based on nominal registers or registers based on names. Therefore these crimes mainly arise from
the old Deeds Registries which were based on the person rather than on the unit of land or parcel of property.
Real problems arise in these indexes in the Deeds Registries when filing practices lead to confusion about who owns what, this problem can be seen in computer land title indexes when the computer appears to be consolidating a number
of different people into the one file. In other words the computer system either by problem programming or by deliberate interference starts to consolidate unrelated people who have the same surname and initial. It is agreed that this sounds
totally bizarre, but it can happen and if it does start to happen then it can be the quickest method for criminal elements to consolidate the irregularly multiplied files and gain control of the underlying titles in the registry.
BUT HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO PRACTICAL POLICING?
It is important in areas of dysfunctional land tenure that police should consider this question of digital land. They should ask themselves."Is there anything in the Land Titles Office registry which indicates that these people might have owned
more land than they appear to on the surface?". The law enforcement officer should then ask for the systems design in use in the Land Titles Office and see how the dealings in the Deeds Register are effected. They should then search the computer
indexes to the Deeds Register and see what happens when they search under the name of the victim. Let us say the victim's name is John Wilkes Brown. They will probably have to press "F11" or "F12" which indicates "Trace Owner". If they receive
a whole list of people with the same surname and initial but with no connection to the victim then further investigation may be required remembering that in some systems those individuals with only a surname and Christian name may produce such a
result as a matter of course. In that case investigations should center on whether there is a statistical correlation between adverse events and individuals who have only a Christian name and surname and are registered in the Deeds Register.
Another indicator that problems may have arisen in the Deeds Register are problems which those attempting to register a Power of Attorney many have in effecting registration. In some cases these problems may be indicated by an unusual number of
misspellings of solicitors' names in the Deeds Registry indicating that may be some underlying malfunction.
BUT PEOPLE WOULD SURELY BE AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM -SOMEONE WOULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING ABOUT IT?
Human beings have an intense need to believe in the integrity of the land registration system mainly because all the property holders need to maintain a belief in their title in order to sell that title on. Any investigation into the nature of
land title will be resisted by society in general. A historic example of this was the episode of Tulipmania in Europe in the 16th century. This episode in which tulips were bought and sold for huge sums was sparked off when an individual swapped the
deed for 51 acres of building land for a tulip. We still see this episode as an example of "madness of crowds" but no-one ever thinks to ask whether the deed to the 51 acres was worth anything at all. It is highly likely that to those in the know the
deed was worthless - as many land deeds are worthless from time time to time. The general tendency for humans to believe too much in land records is what causes this generalized blindness to problems in land registries. Another reason why we tend to
blindside about problems in land registries is that by the time this dysfunction in land registration is noticed so many disturbing crimes have been effected arising from dysfunctional land registration that it is simply too difficult to amit that
there is a problem.
For instance in a time of dysfunctional land registration unusual deaths can occur due to the existence of hidden long term leases on land. The overt Torrens system does not act to "kill off" underlying leases. Criminal elements can keep these lease
structures going as an alternative land tenure system over large areas of subdivision land. If the lease is due to run out then criminal elements may act against the unknowing heirs in order to prevent the problem of the parallel ownership of the land.
In order to deal with these complex matters law enforcement officers need the assistance of lawyers. This is because the criminal elements who are maintaining these hidden structures on land are operating according to the general law in most cases. The
criminal elements need to be able to "cash in" or hold these land titles in a legitimate manner therefore they need lawyers to act for them.
In conclusion in answer to the question "Can Bad Conveyancing Kill You?" the answer is yes - under certain circumstances. Listed briefly these circumstances would appear to be:-
1. The use of land title registrations by criminal elements for cash laundering purposes or to hide land assets.
2. An extensive multiplication of land title files over a period of time.
3. The expressed intention of applying more rigorous standards on the Land Title Registry.
4. A race to consolidate land title records by competing criminal or vested interest groups.