A caveat is temporary by design. Section 91 of the Land Registration Act sets the clock, and section 92 makes the consequence of letting it run permanent.
Section 91(1) — three months
Subject to subsection (2), a caveat lapses after the expiration of three months from the time it came into force.
Note carefully: from the time it came into force — not from lodgement. Under section 85, a caveat does not come into force until it is accepted by the Registrar, and acceptance occurs when the Registrar makes a note to that effect on the caveat.
Two dates matter and they are not the same. Lodgement is when you delivered it; acceptance is when it began to work. Ask the Registrar to confirm acceptance, note that date, and count three months from it.
And remember section 85(3) and (4): the Registrar may raise a requisition even after acceptance, and if it is not complied with in the prescribed period he may annul the acceptance.
Section 91(2) — the two ways to avoid lapse
(a) it was lodged with the written consent of:
- (i) an equitable mortgagee; or
- (ii) the registered proprietor of the land affected; or
(b) the caveator has, within the three months, taken proceedings in the Court to establish his title to the estate or interest specified in the caveat and has given written notice of those proceedings to the Registrar.
Commencing proceedings alone is not enough. You must also give the Registrar written notice of them. Caveators lose protection every year by doing the first and forgetting the second.
Serve the notice in writing, keep proof of it, and do it as soon as the proceedings are filed — not on the last day. See Raina No.1 Ltd v Elisha [2015] PGNC 158; N6051.
Paragraph (a) is the quieter route and worth remembering. A caveat lodged with the registered proprietor’s written consent does not lapse at all. Where a proprietor is content for an interest to be protected — a family arrangement, a staged transaction, a lender’s equitable security — obtaining that written consent at the outset avoids the whole problem.
What lapse actually means
- The block comes off. Under section 86, the Registrar is only prevented from registering an instrument while a caveat remains in force. Once it lapses, dealings can be registered.
- A registered proprietor takes free of your unregistered interest. Under sections 24 and 45, priority runs by date of production notwithstanding notice, and a transferee is not affected by notice except in case of fraud. Your caveat was what made your interest visible; without it, notice does not help you.
- You cannot simply lodge another. See below.
Section 92 — the bar on a second caveat
Where (a) a caveat has been lodged by or on behalf of a person; and (b) the caveat has lapsed or the Court has ordered its removal — that person shall not lodge another caveat on substantially the same grounds.
This is the provision that makes the three months genuinely final. You get one caveat per set of grounds. The words “substantially the same grounds” prevent re-lodging the same claim with cosmetic differences.
Note that section 92 also bites where the Court has ordered removal under section 88 — so a caveator who loses a show-cause summons cannot start again.
Section 92 bars a further caveat. It does not bar the substantive claim. If you have a genuine interest, the remedy is to litigate it — and, if you succeed, to have the Register corrected or the dealing set aside. But you will be doing so without the protection of a block on dealings in the meantime, which is precisely the disadvantage the caveat existed to avoid.
What to do before the three months run
- Confirm the acceptance date and diarise three months from it, with a reminder at two months.
- Decide early whether you will litigate. The decision cannot be left to week twelve.
- If you will: commence proceedings and give the Registrar written notice — both, in time, with proof.
- If you will not: try to convert the position — obtain the registered proprietor’s written consent under section 91(2)(a)(ii), settle the underlying dispute, or get the interest registered so the caveat is no longer needed.
- Consider consent registration. Under section 86(2), an instrument endorsed with the caveator’s consent may be registered — sometimes the deal that resolves everything.
- Watch for requisitions from the Registrar, and respond within the prescribed period.
- Keep your address current — under section 94, notices may be served at the address in the caveat or at the office of the lawyer or agent who signed it.
Sources
- Land Registration Act (Chapter 191) — ss 24, 33, 45, 82–94; Part VIII
- Raina No.1 Ltd v Elisha [2015] PGNC 158; N6051
- Mudge v Secretary for Lands [1985] PGSC 13; [1985] PNGLR 387
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the Land Act 1996 and check for later amendments. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.