ABSTRACT
The Land Transfer Act 2017 (NZ) came into force on 12 November 2018. It replaced the Land Transfer Act 1952 (NZ) and, while it retains the core principles of the Torrens system, it includes some significant reforms. This chapter focuses on the expanded compensation provisions and addresses particularly the fate of a registered owner who has been deprived of his or her estate or interest in land. The compensation provisions introduce an element of an owner’s culpability. Under the 1952 Act, the courts could not penalise a compensation seeker for careless actions. This is no longer the case and an owner now risks reduced compensation if there has been a lack of proper care. This is further complicated by the novel concept of a court’s judicial discretion when considering the effects of immediate indefeasibility of title. It allows the court to alter the register in cases of manifest injustice. This chapter discusses whether the synchronisation of these two principles delivers different results to the two affected parties and creates a platform of unfairness.
