Ready title

"Ready title" is not a legal term. It is the phrase land sellers use, especially for plots in Kajiado, Kiambu and Machakos, to say the plot already has its own title. A plot sold this way can be transferred into your name once the sale is done, instead of waiting for a large parcel to be subdivided.

Why it matters. Under the Land Registration Act 2012, you become the owner of land when you are registered as its proprietor, not when you pay. Many land-buying companies sell plots out of one large parcel held on a mother title, with a subdivision plan that can take years or stall completely, and some buyers have waited a very long time for titles. Until each plot is surveyed, approved and registered with its own number and title, the buyer holds a contract and receipts, not a title.

What "ready" should mean. Before you pay, all of these should be true:

• a title exists for the exact plot you are buying, with its own parcel or LR number;
• a current official search for that number shows the seller, or the company selling, as registered owner;
• the search shows no charge, caution, inhibition or restriction that the sale does not deal with;
• the area on the search and the plot on the registry index map match what you are shown on the ground.

The official search. Anyone can apply for an official search of a parcel and receive the current entries in the register. In registries that have moved onto the Ministry of Lands' Ardhisasa platform, starting with Nairobi and Murang'a, land services are handled online; elsewhere you apply at the land registry. Do the search yourself, in your own name, close to the day you pay.

Fake and duplicate titles. Forged title deeds and plots with more than one title are a known problem. Business Daily has reported that a US government trade report listed fake title deeds as a barrier to investment in Kenya, and the Nation has reported banks holding worthless security over fraudulent titles. A registered title can still be challenged and cancelled if it was obtained by fraud or illegally. A photocopy of a title proves nothing on its own; only the register does.

A ready title is not automatically a clean title. Ready means the plot has its own title; clean means no registered burdens on it. You need both.