The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-04-26
TORnEnS LAND SYSTEM
Hinder It a Title Is Final, Can
never Be Questioned

Bankable Capital OF North taroi;na
-Grcat Help to Farmers and All
ten, CT Land Tenure Viii Cure the
Present Evils.
To the Editor: What IS the Torrens
Land system?
The Torrens Land Title system, 50
called from the name OF its originator,
is merely the application to land prop
ertv Of the same mon-sense, bust
ness principles, which have long gov
erncd transactions III personal prop
erty. 1t IS Il safe, quick, Inexpensive,
and practical method Of registering
titles TO, and dealing with lands.
Under the Torrens system, q title is
examined once for all by d special land
court, or by any court OF equity. Al
ter this is passed upon the owner re-
ceives a numbered certificate Of
title similar to q STOCK ceftil-
cate, corresponding TO the stub kept
By the registrar, II showing on It's
face just what the owner title IS. For
example, a life estate, or a fee-slmple,
in whole or III part, free from enculn-
FRANCES. OF Sbb1tct y cd1I IClAiIl
brances as are mentioned in the Ger
titicate. This title can never be Ques-
toned. 1t is final. Subsequent en-
cunnbrances, such as mortgages, ludg-
ments and the like are noted on the
certificate, SO that any one may tell
the exact condition Of the title, with
out employing q lawyer. simply by
looking at the certificate and COM
pairing it. for safetys sake, with the
stub kept by the registrar.
THIS certificate carries a guaranteed
title by the State, the State being Sc
cured by an assurance fund collected
usually one-tenth Of one per cent
on the value Of the property register
ed. You can then deal with this Ger
~tificate Of title almost as freely as with
& certificate Of stock. This will put
Your real estate on same footing as
your personal property. and thus add
millions of dollars to the ~bankablc
property of North Carolina. This will
be of great help to the and
all real estate owners. by enabling
them to secure quick and short loans
through the banks without having to
secure tho services OF Il lawyer. as
they have TO do under the present
a~ntiquated system.
1t will help all who deal in real es-
tate, will promote h development Of
the whole state by settling titles. and
will induce home-seekers to our State.
because viii not hesitate to
buy land the title to which is guaran-
teed by the State.
The faults OF the present system
among many others. consist Of the
enormous waste of time and money
due to being forced to secure the serv-
ices Of a lawyer to re-eXamine the
same old title every time a new deal is
made in land, or any real estate. and
the land owner has to pay the bill. L
Will cite an instance: One of the lead
ing lawyers Of this State told the writ
er that he knew Of a tract Of land.
twenty-five per cent. of its value had
been paid to attorneys as fees for ex-
aminlnS the same old title, year after
year. and vet there seemed to be no
defect in the title. All this tends to
depress values, and makes land slow
to handle. There is always an Gle
ment OF uncertainty. more or less, in a
real estate deal under our present
laws.
me Iorrcn, system Will Cure All
These Evils.
Laws made when lands were held
under royal grants and sold for ten
Genus an acre, are not suited to the
business methods and commercial re-
quireInents Of this day and generation.
Many Of the large banks in States
where the Iorrens system is in suc-
cesslul operation, have announced
thelf Willingness to accept the regis
trars certificate Of title tho fur
,her guarantees, whenever offered in
their mortgage loans. and glad IA 90.
them. So
from best Information the writer
6ets from States where the Torrens
system has been adopted. the AVERAGE
cost IS about twenty-five dollars for the
hl9t leSls,ratlon, and from one and a
half to three dollars for s,hcao,,sa
transfers.
me passage OF the Torrens bill will
not make It compulsory to register
youf land-and this remains entirely
oplonal. Therefore, harm can come
to no one hE- acnortinn -