Also known as a certificate of title, a land title is a paper document that provides proof of land ownership. It contains the property’s location, the size of the land, the landowner’s full legal name, and a unique registration number.
The Land Registration Authority (LRA), a government agency in charge of keeping all land records, started implementing a new way of storing and keeping track of these land titles. This method is known as eTitling.
What is an eTitle?
An eTitle is a digitized form of a landowner’s paper land title. These land titles are backed up regularly and stored in its electronic original form in a virtual Registry of Deeds.
The eTitle is a result of the LRA’s Land Titling Computerization Project in 2008. The project was created in an effort to protect the Torrens system, a method for registering land titles. Through this project, a quick, reliable, and efficient land registration system was set in place. It also investigates potentially fake or illegally-issued certificates of title
The eTitle was then created under the Voluntary Title Standardization Program of the Land Titling Computerization Project. This eTitle project was first launched in Cebu and other nearby cities before being put into effect nationwide.
Why should you convert your land title to an eTitle?
- An eTitle is not subject to tampering, counterfeiting, and destruction
The original land title and its duplicate titles are all made of paper. Thus, these are prone to illegal tampering or the creation of fake copies. These documents can also become brittle over time or get destroyed in unforeseeable events like fires, war or natural disasters. All these unfortunate circumstances are avoided with an eTitle.
If the original land title bears marks of authenticity, so does an eTitle. This digitized document contains a barcode and watermarks – the unmistakable security features of a legitimate eTitle.
- An eTitle is more accessible
The process of retrieving information from your original land title can take days or weeks. Before the document is released, you first have to file a request for the information then wait for its verification. With an eTitle, the process now takes only around a few minutes.
- An eTitle helps landowners avoid the long process of reconstitution
The process of replacing an original land title when it gets lost or destroyed is called reconstitution. It is long, tedious, costly, and with many steps that must be followed to the letter. But with an eTitle, landowners now have a quicker and easier way to rebuild information lost with their original document.
How to convert your land title to an eTitle:
- Head to the Registry of Deeds with your duplicate certificate of title and other required documents such as:
- verified petition by the owner
- original owner’s copy of title
- tax clearance
- certified true copy of the tax declaration
- valid identification
- An LRA employee will receive your papers and validate the authenticity of your duplicate copy by matching or comparing it with the original.
- Upon validation, the LRA will begin converting your land title to an eTitle. The process now only takes a couple of days before you are notified that your duplicate title document is ready for pick-up.
You can also go to the nearest satellite office.
Convert your paper land title to an eTitle with the help of top lawyers, Duran & Duran-Schulze. Call (+632) 478 5826 or email info@duranschulze.com today.
If you are looking to invest in the Philippines, you can count on the expert advice of the attorneys at Duran & Duran-Schulze. Call (+632) 478 5826 or email info@duranschulze.com today.