Summer services update
This section permits the Registrar-General of Land (RGL) to enter in the register the satisfaction or discharge of the annuity upon proof that all arrears owing under the mortgage have been paid, satisfied, or discharged, and:
- the annuitant has died, or
- the annuity has ceased in accordance with the terms of the mortgage instrument..
In the case of a rentcharge, the RGL will register the satisfaction or discharge of the rentcharge upon proof that:
- the rentcharge has ceased to be payable in accordance with the terms of the mortgage instrument, and
- all arrears owing under the mortgage have been paid, satisfied or discharged.
It is not immediately apparent whether section 106, or the previous section 113 of the Land Transfer Act 1952,can be used to discharge an encumbrance in circumstances where a party is, for example, a struck-off company or a dissolved incorporated society.
In the case of an annuity, the RGL's view is that section 106 (like the previous section 113) is limited to the discharge of an annuity originally granted to a living person and cannot be stretched to encompass the striking off of a company or the dissolution of an incorporated society.
In the case of the former company, its interest in the encumbrance may have passed to the Crown bona vacantia under section 324(1) of the Companies Act 1993.
In both cases, the operation of sections 109-111 and 115 of the Property Law Act 2007 could be considered.