of titles," because the retrospect is cut oft' on the completion of each transaction, the certificate of title being in the register, and the sole and sufficient evidence of it, the duplicate "certificate of title," in the hands of the proprietor.
Again, the value of land as a basis of credit is seriously depreciated by the curiously factitious, we may say absurd, procedure in the case of mortgage; the object being to hypothecate or charge the land with a sum of money as security for a loan. Instead of doing this in a straightforward and direct manner, as is done by a dozen lines, in the space of fifteen minutes, under registration of title, the estate of the mortgagor is conveyed to the mortgagee by deed subject to a right of redemption. The latter then gets possession of the deeds, and, as the conveyancers express it, "sits on them." The consequence is that the mortgagor, in the event of his requiring a further loan, is placed in a most injurious position; for the second mortgagee would not only be hampered in his remedies in case of default, but also liable to be ousted of his security by a subsequent mortgage tacked on to the first. The consequence is that, however ample the security may be in point of value, second mortgages are, as a rule, interdicted in settlements, shunned by prudent men, and only accepted at exorbitant rates. For example, suppose a borrower to offer a second mortgage on an estate value £100,000, but already charged with £10,000, and another borrower to offer a first mortgage of the same amount on an estate worth £20,000 only, the latter would have no difficulty in finding a mortgagee at 4 per cent., whilst the former would have considerable difficulty in finding a mortgagee at a much higher rate, though the cover he had to offer was £80,000, as against £10,000 offered by the latter.[1]
It were needless to add any further counts to this in-
- ↑ It is only right to mention that "The Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881," greatly simplifies the law relating to mortgages, though it does not obviate the inconveniences above referred to.
