Achievements of Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 Essay

Achievements of Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 - Essay Example There are considerable reforms which have been achieved in law of mortgages after the introduction of the Land and Conveying Law Reform 20091. The land reforms were occasioned by the need to modernize the property law to adhere with the current social, economic and demographic changes. Another objective was to simplify the law and make it more accessible and understood. Much of the property law on conveying had been governed by laws that were enacted in 19th century thus most of the rules and principles were obsolete. The areas which were covered in the consultations include estates in land, mortgages, future interests, contracts for the sale of land and conveyances, settlements and trusts. The Act provided repeal of the enactments which were considered obsolete depending on the modern circumstances and modernization of the land in regard to lis pendens with the amendment of the registration of deeds and Title Acts of both 1964 and 20062. The Act came in to force on 1st December 2009 with the exception of Section 132 which deals with rent reviews which came in force on 28th February 2010. The Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 provides inter alia for the amendments of law dealing with the review of rents and variation of the trusts. The Act makes an inclusive definition of land whereby land is defined as any estate or interest over the land whether corporeal or incorporeal. Land also includes land covered by water, buildings, structures, mines, minerals, and airspace which is above the surface of the land or any structures. The Act also expands the definition of â€Å"incumbrance† to include any charge, lien, mortgage, portion, annuity and trust securing capital sum or annual sum3. The land reforms comprise the fundamental reforms of Irish Land law since 19th century. The Act has simplified the registration of Land and mortgages by providing e-conveyancing. The Act has abolished the vestiges of feudal tenure that may be surviving in the modern era but has retained the estates doctrine with amendments so as to ensure only two legal estates of land can exist in Irish Law. The two estates include the leasehold estate and freehold estate of a fee simple in possession4. The principle that contracts must be evidenced by writing has been rested in modern and simple language and the minimum period for production of a good root of title has been minimized from 40 years to 15 years. The deeds which may be executed by individuals no longer require as seal but must be executed in a valid manner since there must be two witnesses to attest their signatures. The Act has recognized the deeds that may be executed by foreign-registered companies if done according to the foreign law applicable for the particular company. Another major simplification is provision fro the application of the rules of notice of the Act if instruments such as mortgages omit the provisions and rules of serving a notice including the criteria of serving the notice th rough e-commerce or facsimile machine5. The law has brought important changes since it is no longer possible to sever a joint tenancy. Since all the tenants must either consent to the severance or a court procedure must follow where the consent is not possible to obtain. Accordingly, registration of any mortgage against the interest of the joint tenant will not sever the joint tenancy. However, if such mortgage remains unsevered, the judgment mortgage will only extinguish after the death of the judgment debtor. The law has made it possible for freehold covenants created since it came in force to be enforced against successors in title of the original covenantor. The rule of Tulk v Moxhay which allowed negative covenants to bind the successors has been abolished by