The Land Registration Act

The Registrar’s signature is to be treated as something the court will judicially notice.

This section is titled “Indemnity of officers.”

This section is about orders that can make registration compulsory in certain areas.

This section concerns the Registrar’s discretion to suspend a compromise.

The section concerns the Registrar’s decision being used as evidence in other proceedings.

The Registrar must record the reasons for his decision.

This section says registration must be deferred in certain cases.

This section concerns conditions imposed by the former German Government that run with the land.

Section 26 is titled “Disposal of documents of title” and mentions incumbrances subsisting at first registration.

This section concerns registration of grants of public land and certificates of occupancy.

Section title about covenants and conditions in grants and certificates of occupancy.

This section is about agreements of mortgages for rights of occupancy and their registration.

The provision is titled “Estate of registered owner paramount.”

This section is titled “Memorials to give actual notice” in Part V, Certificates of Title.

The owner is entitled to receive a certificate.

This section concerns the endorsement of certificates of title.

The Registrar may require someone to produce certificates of title.

Mutilated certificates are to be replaced.

This section is titled “Certificate of title to be evidence.”

The Registrar has power to reject deeds, and an implied covenant may be varied.

Deeds must not include unregistered land.

This section is headed “Original deeds to be retained” and refers to joint tenant and tenancy in common, implied receipt, and special provisions relating to transfers.

Section title: Transfers subject to mortgages.

Transfers in exercise of power of sale.

Section 53 is titled “Division on transfers be vertical” and includes a reference to special provisions relating to leases.

This section is titled “Implied covenants and powers” and refers to special provisions relating to mortgages.

This section concerns mortgages by companies and cooperative societies.

This section is titled “Creation of liens by deposit” and mentions implied covenants by borrower and special provisions relating to partitions.

This section is titled “Parcels to be divided vertically” and appears under the chapter on transmissions on death.

This section is titled “Registration of legal personal representatives.”

Section title: Dispositions and assents by legal personal representative.

Section title only: Registration of survivor of joint owners.

Section 70 concerns cancellation of a lease determinable on death and other transmissions.

The Registrar must record changes that happen by operation of law.

Section 72 concerns titles acquired by adverse possession.

This section is titled “Entry of prohibitory orders and injunctions.”

This section is titled “Authorities and directions.”

Section 77 is titled “Appointment of receivers and managers generally.”

The section states that the Registrar has power to enter injunctions.

Section 81 is titled “Settled land” and appears under Part X (Trusts) and Part XI (Mutations).

Combination or division is subject to lease.

Section 85 is titled “Reparcellations” and appears under Part XII on maps, plans and boundaries.

The Registrar has power to rectify the index map.

This section is about plans for supporting applications, dispositions, and mutations.

Section 90 is titled “Foreshore” and appears in Part XIII on execution of deeds.

This provision is about a presumption of due execution where a corporate seal is used.

This provision is titled “Filing of power of attorney.”

Section 98 is titled “Copies.”

This section is titled “Right to indemnity in certain cases” and appears in Part XVI on appeals from decisions of the Registrar.

This section is titled “Appeals to High Court.”

This section concerns the Registrar’s power to record acts done in exercise of powers.

The Registrar may require witnesses to attend.

The Registrar has power to take statutory declarations.

The Registrar has power to make an order about costs.

This section concerns a power to register without prior payment of fees.

This section is titled “Power to destroy obsolete documents.”

This section says the provisions of the Registration of Documents Act are excluded.

This section is titled “Repeal of laws,” but the provided text does not include any repeal rule itself.

This Act may be cited as the Land Registration Act.

This section defines key land-registration terms and says the Act does not override other laws that forbid a disposition, mutation, or similar act or require someone’s consent or approval.

A land registry must be maintained at Dar es Salaam or another place the Minister declares, and the Registrar must keep a land register for title registration and recording land transactions and incumbrances.

The Minister must appoint a Registrar of Titles and may appoint a Deputy Registrar and Assistant Registrars.

Courts, judges, and persons acting judicially must take judicial notice of the Registrar’s signature.

The land registry must have a seal, and documents said to bear that seal are admissible as evidence.

The Registrar and certain authorised persons are protected from personal liability for good-faith acts done under this Act or its rules.

This section defines what counts as a “registrable estate” and sets out several exclusions and deemed classifications.

The Registrar may order people claiming entitlement to unregistered land to apply for registration of their title within a stated period.

A person claiming a registrable estate in unregistered land may apply to the Registrar for first registration, but an applicant who has not complied with an order under section 9 needs the Registrar’s leave, and each application must include all title documents held by the applicant.

An application for first registration does not stop because the applicant dies, becomes bankrupt, becomes disabled, or makes a disposition; it may be taken over and continued by the applicant’s legal personal representative, trustee, committee, or successor in title.

The Registrar must advertise each first registration application, and usually must notify adjoining landowners when practicable.

A person claiming an estate or interest in land under a first registration application may give the Registrar written notice objecting to the registration before the Registrar decides the application.

The Registrar may investigate title, accept and use evidence, make registration decisions, issue requisitions to first-registration applicants, extend the response period, and dismiss an application if the applicant does not comply in time.

The Registrar may accept several old records and certain grants or conveyances as a good root of title.

A person claiming title to a registrable estate by adverse possession or prescription may apply for first registration.

The Registrar may suspend proceedings on a first registration application if there is an objection denying root of title and a compromise may be possible through withdrawal of the application and grant of a right of occupancy.

The Registrar must allow an application when satisfied that good title has been shown, but not before two months after the Gazette advertisement and not without hearing an objector if a notice of objection was received, unless withdrawn or amended.

If the Registrar is not satisfied that a good title has been shown, the Registrar must dismiss the application.

The Registrar’s decision on an application is evidence in later civil proceedings, with stronger effect against people who objected to the application.

After a first-registration application is dismissed, the same person (or someone claiming through them) must not file another application for the same estate unless the Registrar allows it.

When a notice of objection has been given and not withdrawn, or when the Registrar dismisses an application, the Registrar must record the reasons for allowing or dismissing the application.

If the Registrar allows an application, the estate must be registered in the applicant’s name.

Certain covenants or conditions tied to specified land grants must be recorded in the land register at first registration, and once recorded they are treated as running with the land.

At first registration, existing registrable interests must be entered in the land register, and the Registrar may add a memorial for third-party-owned structures or vegetation.

The Registrar must keep documents of title submitted for first registration, but if they also relate to unregistered land not in the application, the Registrar must note the application on them and return them to the person who produced them.

The Registrar must register qualifying grants of public land and certificates of occupancy, but must not register certain short-term or year-to-year certificates unless the stated exceptions are met.

When a grant of public land or a certificate of occupancy is registered, its covenants and conditions must be recorded in the land register.

If a person has mortgaged or charged an interest under a presidential agreement for a right of occupancy, and that mortgage or charge is still in force when the certificate of occupancy is delivered for registration, the Registrar must register it as an incumbrance against the title.

The land register must use folios for each estate in each parcel, with three parts for land description, ownership, and incumbrances. Public land is registered in the President’s name, and the Registrar may replace a folio with a new one that keeps current entries and drops obsolete material.

The Registrar must prepare and sign or initial the land register documents for first registrations and for later registrations or entries.

This section sets when land-registration documents are treated as received or registered.

The owner of an estate generally holds it free of other interests, except for listed interests and fraud-related exceptions.

A person who acquires an estate or interest in registered land is treated as having actual notice of the relevant memorials in the land register, and related filed documents where specified.

The owner of an estate in a parcel is entitled to a certificate of title, and co-owners may ask for separate certificates for their shares.

The Registrar must deal with the certificate of title when a registration or entry is made, and must endorse a memorial after certain land-register entries.

The Registrar may give written notice requiring a person believed to hold a certificate of title to produce it for endorsement or cancellation, with at least 14 days to comply.

The Registrar may issue a new certificate of title if the original is lost, destroyed, or there is another sufficient reason, after taking any indemnities needed and giving public notice at the applicant’s expense.

If a certificate of title is mutilated, soiled, damaged, or otherwise illegible, the Registrar may issue a replacement certificate and may destroy the old one.

A certificate of title is admissible as evidence of the matters contained in it.

Land dispositions must be registered by the Registrar, and the applicant must provide relevant documents and a prescribed fee.

The Registrar may refuse registration of a deed if it is improperly or unclearly drafted or otherwise unsuitable for registration.

A deed can expressly override or change any implied provision, covenant, or power created by this Act.

If a deed has a covenant made or implied by two or more persons, the covenant is treated as binding them jointly and severally unless the deed says otherwise.

A deed made for two or more people cannot be registered unless it says whether they hold as joint tenants or tenants in common.

If a deed states it is made for a sum of money, the deed is taken to include a receipt for that sum.

A deed may cover two or more parcels, but a deed cannot be registered if it relates to both registered and unregistered land.

The Registrar must keep all deeds he registers, and when a lease or mortgage is registered in duplicate or triplicate, must endorse the copies with registration particulars and return them to the person who filed them.

When a registered lease is transferred, the transferee is implied to take on the lease obligations and indemnify the transferor; if only part of the land is transferred, the obligation is limited to the part transferred.

When a registered estate subject to mortgage is transferred, the transferee is implied to agree to pay the mortgage interest and to protect the transferor from the mortgage debt and related liability.

The Registrar must notify the owner, pause registration for one month, and then register the transfer unless the High Court orders otherwise.

Any person may make a transfer in the ways described in this section.

A transfer of freehold or a right of occupancy over part of a parcel cannot be registered unless the parcel is divided vertically.

A lease cannot be registered unless it meets certain term or consent conditions.

A lease of registered land may start on a future date, but that start date cannot be more than 21 years after the lease is executed.

Every registered lease is taken to include tenant and landlord covenants covering rent, repairs, access, quiet enjoyment, and landlord re-entry for arrears or breach.

A registered mortgage works as security, not as a transfer of the mortgaged estate.

A mortgage of a registered estate may be used to secure an existing, future, or contingent debt or obligation.

A mortgage created by certain companies or co-operative societies cannot be registered under this Act unless the Registrar is satisfied that it has already been registered under the relevant Companies or Co-operative Societies Act.

Mortgages on the same estate rank by registration order, not creation order, unless the prior lender agrees in writing or a prior mortgage gives a right to tack further advances.

If a lender has a right to consolidate a mortgage with another mortgage, the lender may apply to have that right recorded in the land register, and the Registrar must record it.

Every registered mortgage is taken to include borrower covenants to pay, maintain, insure, and restrict leasing of the mortgaged property.

If a lender is disabled, absent from Tanzania, or cannot be found, the Registrar may receive the mortgage money and arrears of interest in trust and may take related steps.

A person holding a deposited certificate of title may notify the Registrar, who must record the deposit as an incumbrance; the person may later withdraw that notice.

A partition of a registered estate subject to a mortgage cannot be registered unless the lender’s written consent is produced to the Registrar.

A partition that divides a parcel must not be registered unless the division is vertical.

A legal personal representative may be registered as owner instead of the deceased if they apply to the Registrar in the prescribed form and provide the required probate, letters of administration, or appointment copy.

An assent related to vesting a registered estate or interest cannot be registered unless the estate or interest is already registered in the legal personal representative’s name, and every such assent must be in the prescribed form.

When a joint owner of an estate or interest dies, an interested person may apply to have that person’s name deleted from the land register, and the application must include proof of death.

If a registered lease ends on the tenant’s death, the land register memorial must be cancelled when an interested person applies with proof of the tenant’s death.

The Registrar may record a person’s entitlement to registered land by registration or entry if satisfied by the required evidence and on application by an interested person, subject to the Law of Limitation Act.

A claimant to registered land by adverse possession or prescription may apply to the Registrar, who must advertise the application, notify the affected owner, and wait six months after Gazette publication before allowing it.

The Registrar must enter certain court orders or injunctions in the land register as an incumbrance, and cancel the memorial if a cancelling order is served.

A court order under this Act does not need to be registered or entered, but an office copy must be attached to the related deed, application, or other document before it is presented for registration or entry.

A receiving order or bankruptcy-related document may be served on the Registrar, who must enter it in the land register; the memorial then blocks most later registrations until it is cancelled or replaced by the official receiver or trustee as owner.

If a company is being wound up by the High Court and the court vests registered land or an interest in the liquidator, the liquidator may file an office copy of the order with the Registrar and becomes entitled to be registered as owner in the liquidator’s official name.

A receiver or manager appointed by a court may lodge a caveat under section 78 if the order does not vest the property; the order itself must not be registered or entered.

Certain people may file a caveat over registered land, but it must be backed by a statutory declaration. The Registrar must record and notify it, and may suspend a conflicting deed for one month; the High Court can also be involved on application.

The Registrar may enter an injunction in the land register to stop a disposition, and must give notice to the owner. The High Court can be asked to review and remove the injunction.

This section lets certain trustees and representatives be registered as owners if the required wording is added, and limits what the Registrar must check for some transactions.

A tenant for life of settled land is not entitled to be registered as the owner of any estate, and the trustees of a settlement with registered land must carry out a disposition when directed by the tenant for life.

The Registrar may combine contiguous parcels if the application is in the prescribed form, the Commissioner for Lands consents, and the listed parcel conditions are met.

The Registrar may divide a parcel into smaller parcels if the application is in the prescribed form and has the required consents.

The Registrar may combine parcels or divide a parcel, even if the parcel is under a lease.

The Registrar may approve a reparcellation request by cancelling the old land-register folios and preparing new ones, if the required applications and consents are provided.

The Registrar must keep an index map of registered land and may determine its contents and change block boundaries.

The Registrar may amend the index map, after hearing affected persons and accepting evidence in his discretion, and may prepare a new edition of the index map or part of it.

An estate cannot be registered, and a parcel cannot be divided, unless there is an approved plan, though the Registrar may temporarily waive that requirement in limited cases.

Land register descriptions and filed plans are only general boundary indicators unless the Registrar accepts an approved plan after hearing affected persons.

Land below the ordinary spring high-water mark is not treated as part of a parcel unless the land register expressly says otherwise.

A deed cannot be registered unless it is executed by all parties and attested as required by the Act.

A deed is treated as executed if it is signed and delivered by a natural person, or if a corporation’s common seal is affixed and delivered, or if authorised persons sign and deliver in the stated corporate cases.

A deed is treated as attested only if the required witnessing and attestation steps are done.

The Registrar may accept a deed as duly executed if a corporate seal appears to have been affixed and the deed has the required attestation; irregularities in sealing or attestation will not defeat a disposition to a bona fide purchaser for value.

A document signed by an agent for someone else cannot be accepted for registration or entry unless the signer was authorised by a properly executed and attested power of attorney.

The Registrar must file certain powers of attorney and revocation notices, and must reject documents signed under a revoked power once revocation notice has been filed.

A person may inspect land registry records during business hours and may request an official search for any parcel.

A person may apply to the Registrar to get certified or uncertified copies of certain land-registry records.

The land register may be rectified by the High Court or by the Registrar in listed cases, and the Registrar must preserve the original memorial when rectification occurs.

Some people who lose because of land register errors or rectifications may be indemnified by the Government, but there are exceptions and limits.

If the Registrar makes a decision, order, or act under the Act, the Registrar must provide the decision or reasons in writing when an affected person applies.

A person aggrieved by the Registrar may appeal to the High Court, but the appeal needs notice within one month and is generally brought within three months.

The Registrar may record a change to an estate or interest by registration or entry if satisfied it was varied or determined by lawful power or by the passage of time.

If a question arises about a duty or function under the Act, the Registrar may refer the matter to the High Court for an opinion, and the High Court’s opinion binds the Registrar.

The Registrar may require a person to attend, answer on oath, and produce relevant documents when questions arise about registrations, entries, or corrections in the land register.

The Registrar may take statutory declarations for this Act, and such declarations are exempt from stamp duty.

The Registrar may order who pays investigation, hearing, or inquiry costs and in what proportions.

The Registrar may register an estate even if fees are unpaid, record unpaid fees as a charge, refuse later registration until payment, and recover unpaid fees by suing for them.

The Registrar may destroy documents or plans he has if, in his opinion, they are obsolete or no longer have effect.

A notice is treated as served or given if it is personally served, left at the person’s last known address, or sent by registered post to that address.

The Registrar may enter or cancel a memorial in the land register about an estate duty charge, and a memorial does not stop later registration of a disposition.

Registering a document under the Registration of Documents Act must not affect a person who acquires an estate or interest in registered land, if the condition of notice applies.

Section 113 is marked omitted.

The High Court may make court rules for proceedings, applications and appeals, and fees. The Minister may also make rules under the Act, including for the land registry, business hours, forms, and fees.

This section repeals the Land Registry Ordinance and the Land Registry (Amendment) Ordinance, with transitional and consequential provisions.