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Lodging a caveat against dealings

A caveat against dealings lodged under s138 of the Land Transfer Act 2017 acts as a notice that a person (the caveator) claims to have an interest in the land.

Requirements

A caveat instrument must include the information set out in reg 5 and Schedule 2 of the Land Transfer Regulations 2018, including a description of the caveator’s claimed interest in the land.

We also recommend that the caveator provide an address for service for the registered owner.

If the caveat relates to only part of the land in the title, the part can be defined using areas on a deposited plan, or by a diagram attached to the caveat.

Interest claimed

The interest claimed must be one that relates to an estate or interest described in s138(1) of the Land Transfer Act 2017 (LTA), including details of how the interest claimed is derived from the registered owner.

Our caveats checklist includes examples of commonly used interests and whether these are likely to be caveatable or not.

LINZ carefully assesses the interest claimed to ensure the caveat the requirements of the LTA.  

Non-compliance with the requirements of s138 LTA is not a minor error or defect in form that can be overlooked. Although s147 LTA provides that the Registrar is not required to verify a caveator's entitlement to any estate or interest claimed, a caveat will be rejected if the caveat does not comply with the formalities set out in s138(1) LTA..

A discussion of the Registrar’s role in considering the interest claimed is found in Norrie (Cindy Sue) v Registrar-General of Land (2005) 1 NZTR 15-001. In particular, the Registrar is required to ensure that the derivation of the interest claimed from the registered owner to the caveator is explicitly stated in the caveat.

Caveat checklist

How to lodge a caveat

A caveat against dealings is registered using the ‘X’ instrument code and is a template instrument in Landonline.

A caveat can also be lodged by someone other than a practitioner in a manual dealing by using Form 34 in the Approved Paper Forms for Land Transfer Act 2017.

Authority to lodge by e-dealing

Authority to lodge a caveat on behalf of a caveator by a practitioner by e-dealing can be in the form of:

  • a signed A&I form
  • an email or letter from the caveator, or
  • a file note recording the caveator’s instructions to act.

Related links Purongo