Conveyancing: Title searches

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The title of a property is kept by the lands department in the specific state in which the property is located. These records are public records, and the only way people can have their names removed from titles of property they own is if they are embroiled in a legal dispute, witness protection program or custody battle regarding children.

There is a system used in Australian known as RP Data. This is a private company that publish all title details for use by individuals, real estate agents and developers - but usage of this system comes at a price.

About RP Data

RP Data charges for subscriptions to its land title information. For example, you can pay a fee for usage of their information system for a period of time - say 3 months, if you are in the process of buying or selling a house and want to make comparisons on selling prices in your area, or check up some zoning information without having to go through a conveyancer.

RP Data allows you to check property titles by typing in the property address, suburb, current owners name if you know it, or ID obtained from the seller or real estate agent. Their records include the land value on the property - all previous sales history and zoning information. There is another way you can go about obtaining title information on properties which does not cost money as RP Data does.

State Title Office

You may apply to the land title office in your state - this is a state-run department, and if you have an issue getting into touch with your local office you can contact the Federal Land Title office in Canberra to determine the right point of contact. The title office in your state will have forms you can fill out to determine certain types of information pertaining to the title on the land.

The information is usually free to retrieve, but it takes some time to have your request fulfilled. There are certain types of title information searches that also cost a small fee and your land title office will make this known to you before they complete the request for information.