The Single-Sheet Property Title Deed
2024-09-11
The single-sheet property title deed is a type of property deed that, like any other property deed, shows the property owner's ownership, with the difference that property deeds were previously a multi-page booklet, whereas today the format has changed and, in its newest form, has become a single sheet.
Features of the Single-Sheet Property Title Deed
The single-sheet property title deed, which came into existence in 2011 (1390 SH), has an advantage that distinguishes it from earlier deeds in terms of legibility, clarity, and security features such as a hologram.
These documents are no longer prepared by hand at the registry office the way old deeds were; their printing process is now mechanized and electronic. This is one of the best features of the new deeds, as it has solved the problem of poor handwriting or illegible deeds, and of repeated corrections being written on the back of the deed, so that the information inside the deed can now be easily read.
All the particulars of the property and the owner appear precisely and legibly, so reading and checking the single-sheet deed has become easy for people; this is one of the reasons that has made forging these documents difficult.
The single-sheet property title deed has a precise survey sketch (croquis) and more detailed information than older deeds, so the problems that used to arise from ambiguity in the property's square footage and encroachment on properties no longer occur.
In the single-sheet property title deed, unlike the old deed, there are not many pages and columns set aside for transfers; rather, only a small section is allocated for this purpose. This is because, under the new system, the issued copy of the document is not meant to remain in people's hands for a long period, since it is not advisable for a title deed to remain in the owner's possession for an extended time. Accordingly, under the issued regulations, notary offices are required, after every transfer of a property, to take the single-sheet property title deed from the seller, and, after recording the transfer in the relevant section, instead of handing the deed back to the buyer, to submit it to the relevant registry office for replacement, so that a new single-sheet property title deed is issued in the name and with the particulars of the new owner.
Past sales and previous owners that used to be recorded and shown in the old deeds no longer appear in the new deeds. However, if a transaction other than a transfer -- such as a mortgage -- is carried out on the property, that transaction is recorded by the relevant notary office on the back of the single-sheet deed, and the deed is returned and handed back to the owner.
Even the number of times such transactions can be recorded on the back of the single-sheet property title deed is limited, and once the dedicated section is full, the title deed must be replaced; the possibility of attaching supplementary pages, which previously existed with the old booklet-style deeds, no longer exists with these documents.
Reducing Trips Within the City
Reducing trips within the city, because people no longer need to go to registry offices to replace their documents, is another feature of the single-sheet property title deed. At the time booklet-style title deeds were issued, all registration matters relating to title deeds were carried out by the owners themselves by going to the registry offices for deeds and properties, and this is still the case now. With the single-sheet property title deed, the process has been designed so that, for transfers, this is done in the very same session in which the two parties to the transaction carry out the transaction at the notary office. After the forms are prepared and signed, the rest of the matter is followed up by the notary offices, and buyers do not need to go to the registry offices.
This arrangement reduces people's trips within the city and reduces the crowding of people at registry offices throughout the country. It will also make the registration process at the registry offices run more smoothly.
Issuance of Separate Title Deeds for Each Owner
Even before the single-sheet property title deed became common, co-owners of properties could, by going to the registry offices, obtain a separate title deed for their co-owned share; but in practice, in most cases, this was not done, and co-owned properties had a single title deed, which would remain in the possession and control of one of the owners, while the other partners had no document evidencing their ownership. Since, unfortunately, a culture of shared ownership is not common in our country, this situation used to cause problems in jointly owned properties.
Before property title deeds took the single-sheet form, in cases where disputes arose among co-owners, the partner who held the title deed would prevent the other partners from benefiting from the rights and privileges of the title deed, and the deprived partners would be forced to make repeated, and often futile, visits to the registry and judicial authorities to vindicate their rights. In most cases, due to not having the co-owned deed in their possession, they would also fail to vindicate their rights. With the single-sheet property title deed, this problem has been resolved, because, with every change, ownership of the deed is updated and a separate deed is issued in the name of each co-owner, in proportion to their share, and sent to their mailing address.