Certificate of Title: This is inherited from paper systems. On registration a Certificate
of Title was often issued to the registered owner. Subsequently, the
registered owner proved his authenticity by producing the Certificate.
Of
course, certificates were often lost or accidentally destroyed.
When
a transaction takes place in respect of a property in respect of which a
certificate still exists, the solicitor must verify that it has been
produced to him.
The electronic transaction renders the certificate
obsolete, and the solicitor should mark it "cancelled" and
retain it in his records for the purpose of maintaining the audit trail,
and/or capture an image of it as produced and cancelled for the
audit trail.
Where the certificate has been lost or destroyed, a
process of advertisement and indemnification must be completed before
dispensing with its production.
Signature: Another
inheritance from paper systems, the signature of a registered owner will
have been endorsed on his document of title, retained in the
Registry.
Comparison with the signature of the proposed transferor
can verify that they are the same person. In practice this
verification process is seldom performed.
Computer comparison of
signatures is problematic, since nobody actually writes his signature in
exactly the same way twice.
In the computer age, capture of
biological indicators such as iris image or thumb print is a more
effective security measure. Computer comparison of these is
feasible.
Iris Image: The iris of a transferee can be captured by digital camera and stored as part of the transaction details. This provides a perfect basis for checking the identity of any person subsequently purporting to deal with the property as the owner.
Thumb Prints: A device can be attached to the computer system to capture the thumb print of transferees. This again provides a perfect basis for checking the identity of any person subsequently purporting to deal with the property as the owner. In paper systems, signatures were, in theory, used for such identity checks, but were seldom carried out and not at all as conclusive as thumb print or iris image.
Land Card: A magnetic-swipe or intelligent card issued to an owner. This would carry details of the owner's title and identify the property to a solicitor's or mortgagee's computer, and so facilitate transactions. It would not have the problems associated with a Certificate of Title, since it could be cancelled by an owner by phone call followed by email or letter.
© Proinnsias Ó Cillín (2002)