ABSTRACT

The result is that, under the common law, before a person wishing to acquire an interest in land can be sure that such interest can be validly acquired, that person must search for, and check, all the documents relating to the title to land in which he or she is interested. These documents might be in the hands of many different people, and very difficult to obtain. Moreover, even after making such a search, and proceeding with a transaction to acquire that interest, a person can never be sure that some person may not emerge at some stage with a document that may cast doubt on the validity of the interest that he or she thought had been validly acquired.