The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-02-12
THE ToRRENs LAW AGAIN.

There was quite a general sentiment
favor of the Torrens system of land
transfers. This sentiment received
somewhat of a setback through the
decision of the supreme court of Illi-
nois Gin which state the law had been
adopted) declaring the law unconsti-
tutional The particular point on
which it was so declared unconstitu-
tional was that the functions of the
registrar were judicial. But a new
Torrens law is to be introduced into
the Illinois legislature, so drawn UP as
to cure the defect in the last one. This
new law provides for the initial regis
tration proceedings through court,
the applications to be docketed in a
Land registration docket" This is
followed by the publication of notice,
the applications in the meantime hav
ing been referred to the examiners of
title, who may take testimony the
same as a master in chancery. This
is done that the court may have the
services of experts in the examination
of titles One of the members of the
Torrens committee of the Chicago real
estate board, speaking of the new law,
says:
ANY person interested may contest
the application, upon which the court
having power to investigate and de-
termine all questions that may arise
concerning the title or any incum-
brance upon the landry its decree
finally determines and settles the title.
Parties who were not personally nOti-
fed of the application have two years
after entry of the decree to make an
swer to the application, upon which
the court will review the case. APP
peal NAV be taken at the time of en-
tering final decree, or writ of error
may be sued out from the supreme
court at any time within two years
after the entry of the decree. In adj
dition to this limitation upon attack
ing the decree there is a general linn
itation upon any and all persons,
which limits their rights to attack the
title found by the decree to a term of
two years.
1T is especially observed that this
new bill shortens the time when one
will get an indefeasible title. Under
the old act the time was five years;
under the new bill the decree will bind
everybody that has notice, from the
date of the decree, and everybody else
will be cut off after two years from
that same time. The new act will have
to be submitted to local option by
1T is true that conducting the initial
proceedings through a court of record
will be somewhat more expensive than
before the registrar, as under the old
act. We have tried to keep down ex-
penses as much as possible. The peo-
pie will hesitate to go into court with
their titles, and this act may be rather
less popular than the old one, which,
it is to be verv much regretted, the
supreme court found necessary to con-
denim as unconstitutional 1t will be
noted that the new act has something
in it for the lawyers. This cannot be
avoided. The initial proceedings hav-l
ing to be conducted through the court
will make business for Them
This new law is not so simple as the
one that was declared unconstitutional,
still it promises to be an Improvement
on the present method of transferring
lands. The Torrens system proper was
almost an ideal system Of land trans
fers. This new experiment in Illinois
will be watched with much interest.
If the general scheme is held to be
constitutional there may yet be made
such notifications of it that it win be
almost as simple as the original one