Under the Yorkshire Registries Act, 1884 (e), and under Rule 14 of the Middlesex Registry Rules, 1892, an Official Search can be obtained which protects solicitors, trustees, or other persons in a fiduciary position, but is not apparently conclusive in favour of the purchaser.

SECTION 2.

JUDGMENTS AND WRITS AND ORDERS AFFECTING LAND.

When Judgments are a Charge. By the Judgments Act, 1838, s. 19, judgments entered up against the owner of land do not affect a purchaser of the land unless registered in (now) the Central Office of the Supreme Court, and by the Judgments Act, 1839, s. 4, such a registration must be repeated every five years. By the Law of Property Amendment Act, 1860, s. 1, the judgment does not affect a purchaser unless a writ or other due process of execution has been issued and registered, and executed within three months of registration. By the Judgments Act, 1864, s. 1, judgments entered up since July 29th, 1864, do not affect land until the land has been delivered in execution by virtue of a writ of elegit or other lawful authority. If, however, land was actually delivered in execution, it was formerly unnecessary to register either the judgment or the writ of execution except for the purpose of obtaining a summary order for sale under s. 4 (d).

(c) 47 & 48 Vict. c. 54, ss. 20, 21, 23.
(d) Re Pope (1886), 17 Q. B. D. 743.

Now, however, under ss. 5 and 6 of the Land Charges, Registration and Searches Act, 1888 (e), as amended by s. 3 of the Land Charges Act, 1900 (ƒ), every writ and order affecting land issued or made by any court for the purpose of enforcing a judgment, and any order appointing a receiver or sequestrator of land, whether obtained on behalf of the Crown or otherwise, and every delivery in execution or other proceeding taken in pursuance of any such writ or order or in obedience thereto, is void as against a purchaser for value unless registered at the Land Registry, and re-registered every five years.

By the Land Charges Act, 1900 (), s. 2 (1), a judgment or recognizance whether obtained or entered into on behalf of the Crown or otherwise does not operate as a charge on land or on any interest in land or on the unpaid purchase money for any land unless or until a writ or order for the purpose of enforcing it is registered under s. 5 of the Land Charges, etc., Act, 1888, and by s. 5 the provisions of the Acts of 1838, 1839, 1860, and 1864, set out above are repealed.

What Search should be Made. At the present time, therefore, it is only necessary to search at the Land Registry for writs and orders affecting land. The search should be against the last purchaser for value and persons claiming under him for five years next before completion. An Official Search can also be obtained in this case (g).

(e) 51 & 52 Vict. c. 51, s. 6.

(f) 63 & 64 Vict. c. 26.

(g) Land Charges, etc., Act, 1888, s. 17.

SECTION 3.

CROWN DEBTS.

When Crown Debts are a Charge. By the Land Charges Act, 1900, s. 2, an inquisition finding a debt due to the Crown and any obligation or specialty made to the Crown, whatever may have been its date, does not now operate as a charge on land unless or until a writ or order for the purpose of enforcing it is registered under s. 5 of the Land Charges, etc., Act, 1888, at the Land Registry Office (h).

What Search should be Made.-The search at the Land Registry Office for writs and orders affecting land above-mentioned is therefore all that is required.

SECTION 4.

ANNUITIES.

--

Act,

Registration of Annuities. Judgments 1855 (i), ss. 12 and 14, provides that an annuity or rent-charge granted otherwise than by marriage settlement or will after April 26th, 1855, for a life or lives (k) shall not affect purchasers of land unless registered in (now) the Land Registry Office (1). But if a purchaser has notice of such an annuity or rent-charge at the time of completing his purchase it has been decided that he will be bound by it, though it is not registered (m).

(h) Land Charges Act, 1900, s. 2 (2).

(i) 18 & 19 Vict. c. 15, s. 12.

(k) A perpetual rent charge does not appear to require registration.

(7) See Land Charges Act, 1900, s. 1.

(m) Greaves v. Tofield (1880), 14 Ch. D. 563.

What Search should be Made.-Search should be made against the last purchaser and persons claiming under him. As there is no provision for reregistration the search should be from the date at which the persons searched against acquired the property or attained twenty-one, whichever last happened.

An Official Search can be obtained.

SECTION 5.

LIS PENDENS.

Registration of Lis Pendens. By the Judgments Act, 1839 (n), ss. 4 and 7, in the absence of express notice a purchaser is not bound by a lis pendens, unless it is registered and re-registered every five years in the Land Registry Office (»).

What Search should be Made.-Search, therefore, should be made in the Land Registry Office against the last purchaser, and persons claiming under him, for five years next before completion. An Official Search can be obtained.

SECTION 6.

DEEDS OF ARRANGEMENT AND LAND CHARGES.

Registration of Deeds of Arrangements, etc.The Land Charges, etc., Act, 1888 (p), requires the registration at the Land Registry Office of deeds of

(n) 2 & 3 Vict. c. 11.

(0) Land Charges Act, 1900, s. 1.
(p) 51 & 52 Vict, c. 51, ss. 7—14.

arrangement affecting land and statutory land charges as well as writs and orders affecting land, otherwise they will be void as against a purchaser for value. A deed of arrangement for the benefit of creditors generally must also be registered within seven clear days after execution in the Bill of Sale department of the Central Office under the Deeds of Arrangement Act, 1887 (q). But a deed of arrangement for the benefit of particular creditors (r), or intended primarily for the benefit of the debtor and his family (s), does not require registration at the Central Office. Registration of a deed of arrangement does not give validity to the instrument so as to preserve it from being set aside in bankruptcy proceedings (t), provided that such proceedings are instituted within three months after the execution of the deed (u).

What Search should be Made. - Deeds of arrangement and statutory land charges do not require re-registration, and it is therefore necessary to carry back the search to the time when the person searched against became entitled.

An Official Search can be obtained.

(9) 50 & 51 Vict. c. 57; and cf. Hedges v. Preston (1899), 80 L. T. 847.

(r) Re Saumarez, [1907] 2 K. B. 170.

(s) Re Hobbins (1899), 6 Manson, 212.

(t) Deeds of Arrangement Act, 1887, s. 17.

(u) It should be borne in mind that a deed of arrangement for the benefit of creditors generally is an act of bankruptcy under cl. (a) of s. 4 of the Bankruptcy Act, 1883; while a deed of arrangement for the benefit of particular creditors can only be assailed as a fraudulent transfer or preference under cl. (b) or (c). See Re Phillips, [1900] 2 Q. B. 329.