NORWEGIAN MAPPING AUTHORITY SPATIAL DATA FOR THE BENEFIT OF SOCIETY Mandatory use of notaries becoming unnecessary? Helge Onsrud Director Centre for Property Rights and Development
NORWEGIAN MAPPING AUTHORITY Responsible for geodesy, mapping, cadastre and land registration Hosting the Cadastre and the Land Register databases Two separate registers, two laws, two divisions of the Authority Integrated user access to real estate information Land register transferred from local courts in 2005-2007 Centralised registration of documents 1,3 million documents per year Transition to electronic submission, i starting ti with mortgage deeds d Anybody can prepare documents for registration Most sales deeds prepared by real estate agents or advocates Mortgages deed prepared by the lending bank
Opinions - 1 Land markets can work fine without t use of notaries That is demonstrated in many countries Not more disputes or court cases without notaries involved in land transactions (however statistics are lacking) Time to complete transactions tend to be shorter in countries without notaries (WB doing business) Transaction costs tend to be lower in countries without notaries involved (WB doing business)
Opinions - 2 Notaries tend to support deed registration systems However, it is no absolute link between use of notaries and the type of registration system Notaries can as well support a title registration system Title registration systems generally regarded the best solution But, registration systems could be a mix of title and deed registration The role of notaries in validating identity of parties has in most jurisdictions become obsolete The role of notaries in describing the property object has largely become obsolete Deeds should refer to the cadastre number only Cadastre should be the evidence of boundaries etc Repeating information that are in the Cadastre can create confusion However, checking that the cadastre is correct could be relevant
Concerns Do notaries support introduction of simple, standard transaction forms - two pages for a sales deed, one for a mortgage? Do notaries support electronic conveyancing and instant on-line registration of rights? Will notaries support harmonised legislation and uniform registration procedures, needed to facilitate a single European market in real property Do notaries support competition Do notaries support simplifications that t lower transaction ti costs
Is there a future for notaries? Parties need professional assistance to make safe transactions However, not for all types of transactions Most transactions are simple with no complex juridical issues Other professions than notaries can also provide professional help Norway: If engaged, Real estate agents will assist and prepare deeds and act as the middleman for the payments Use of standard forms, advanced electronic register systems, etc. facilitates controls and validation at the Registry However good professional help in preparing documents relaxes the workload to the Registry Notaries and other professional and agents could be authorised to make direct registration Can state guarantees be substituted by insurance?
CONCLUSIONS Land transactions are taking place in a different environment than before and the environment continues to change However, parties will often need professional help Parties should be allowed to select themselves among different professional expertise or to transact without help Several professions can provide relevant help Notaries can provide very professional assistance But they services should not be mandatory and they should not have a monopoly Competition is good - for quality of services and for the price to clients