If you require assistance in using this site please contact us at (01) 8723460. Please note www.landdirect.ie service hours of availability are from 7.00 a.m. until 20.00 p.m. Monday to Friday, not including public holidays and from 7.00 a.m. until 12.00 p.m. on Saturday.

Resources

As a provider of legal and ancillary services since 1890, Ellis & Ellis occupies a unique position of both longevity and perspective in the law searching industry. In our ongoing partnership with large, small, and multi-disciplined practices, we regularly encounter certain ‘gaps in understanding’. This is particularly so when it comes to conducting ‘title investigation’ searches, but also affects other stand-alone search types.

While eminently experienced, Ellis & Ellis are not solicitors and, as such, do not and cannot provide legal opinion. However, our intention is to lend some of the 130 years of that insight to the more commonplace queries that arise from time to time. With this in mind, we trust you will find the following articles helpful.

What are Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) Searches? As part of the ‘Government’s Housing For All’ programme, a new annual tax called …

What are Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) Searches? At a time of ever-increasing rental costs, and as part of a governmental approach to …

What are Register of Shipping Searches? A division of the Department of Transport and operating under the Irish Maritime Administration (IMA), the …

Intellectual Property – a brief understanding In as much as physical objects like land, houses, vehicles, and other goods can be owned …

What is a Credit Union search in the context of a conveyance?  Credit Unions bear many similarities to Friendly Societies which are …

What are probate searches? Typically, when an individual passes away within the State, a procedure is initiated to grantsomeone the legal authority …

The National Archives – A brief synopsis Born of a merging of the State Paper Office (SPO) (Founded in 1702 and holding …

What is an Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicle (ICAV) search? In order to respond to the above premised question, we must first ask …

What are Closing Searches? Typically, when a premises goes ‘Sale Agreed’ the selling and purchasing solicitors will generate a contract which commits …

Ellis & Ellis are delighted to introduce our new online feature, enabling retrospective payment of invoices and/or statements. In continuation of our …

What is a Beneficial Ownership search? Ever since European Anti-Money Laundering legislation was transposed into Irish law from 2015onwards, it has become …

Extending from the Townland Valuation Act (1826) and the Irish Poor Law Act (1838), attempts to create valuation of land evolved over time in Ireland into the Tenement Valuation Acts of 1846 and 1852. 

Friendly Societies have been described as ‘mutual aid’ associations. At their outset, they were organised on a voluntary basis to ‘…protect members against debts incurred through illness, death, or old age’.

The Irish Land Commission (ILC) was founded in 1881 and its primary role was to oversee the dissolution of large land estates and enable tenants to purchase the subdivided holdings.

The intention of a Proceeding search is to flag whether there any High Court actions (or referred actions from lesser courts) initiated that could potentially affect the ownership of a property, or impact on the boundaries/ right/ interests of a sale property. 

To better understand what is a ‘petition search’ it is perhaps first worthwhile exploring the nature of petitions, and then specifically address petitions in context to conveyancing.

The Sheriff (Revenue) offices – Their role and record keeping in a conveyancing context. The origins of the State’s various Sheriff’s Offices …

The Role and Record Keeping of Sheriff (Civil) Offices in Conveyancing The Sheriff’s Office origins lies in Irish pre-independence and English legal …

The Functions and Documentation Practices of Sheriff (Receiver of Fines) Offices in the Context of Conveyancing. Predating Irish independence, and with a …

When the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963 came into force in October 1964 all local authorities (except town commissioners) were …

What Is An Insolvency Service Of Ireland Search? – An Ellis & Ellis Explainer

What is the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI)? The Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) is an independent statutory body established on 1 March 2013 under the provisions of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012. It is responsible for administering and supervising the operation of the various personal insolvency solutions as prescribed in the said act. The objective of which is ‘…to restore insolvent persons to solvency….’. What registers do the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) maintain? If successful in reaching an agreement with their creditors, the personal details and type of debt solution debtors have agreed are recorded in relevant registers

Read More

What Is A Folio Search? – An Ellis & Ellis Explainer

What is a folio? To understand what a folio search is, you first need to understand ‘what is a folio?’. In essence, a folio is a title document produced by the Land Registry as part of the ‘registration of title’ system. Supplementary maps (or title plans) are also generated by the Land Registry. These (State guaranteed) titles to property, set out the related minutiae about a property, such as a description, details of any parts transferred, particulars of ownership, and other specifics about charges, rights of way, burdens, etc. Note: ‘…90% of the legal titles in Ireland are now registered

Read More

What Is A Judgment (Debt/ Money) Register Search? – An Ellis & Ellis Explainer

What is a Judgment (Debt/ Money)? When monies are owed by a person or a legal entity the courts may issue a ruling stating that the creditor (or other plaintiff) is entitled to a certain amount of money. Once the creditor has obtained a judgment, the creditor can employ a host of methods to collect the money that are otherwise unavailable without ajudgment. What is the rationale behind the purchasing solicitor or conveyancer’s decision to seek a Judgment (Debt/Money) search when conducting closing searches on a property, right, or interest purchase? By registering the debt in the Judgment (Debt/ Money)

Read More

What Are Judgment (Lis Pendens) Searches? An Ellis & Ellis Explainer

What is a Lis Pendens? Literally the term translates from its original Latin as ‘Pending Litigation’ and refers to burdens registered against property in situations where there are Circuit or High Court proceedings still deemed to be in progress or still pending.  In reference to Section 69 (1) (i) of the Registration of Title Act 1964, the act describes the type of burdens which may be registered as affecting registered land. Included in those are: –  ‘…(i) any judgment mortgage, recognizance, State bond, inquisition or Judgment (Lis Pendens), whether existing before or after the first registration of the land;…’ Why is

Read More

What Are Company (Legal Entity) Searches? An Ellis & Ellis Explainer

What is a Company search? A company search is a search against the registered name or number of a legal entity recorded in the registers of the Companies Registration Office (CRO), which is the ‘…central repository of public statutory information on Irish companies and business names….’. This type of search can be conducted instantaneously for registered users via our proprietary website at www.ellis.ie.  What are the reasons for the purchasing solicitor/conveyancer to conduct a search for a company when investigating the title for a property/right/interest purchase? There are several reasons why a company search might be conducted as part of

Read More

What Are Bankruptcy Searches? An Ellis & Ellis Explainer

What is Bankruptcy? Bankruptcy is a process where, for a person who is wholly or partially unable to repay their debts (both secured and unsecured), a compromise with creditors is agreed and approved, and entered into with the court’s oversight. The intention of the bankruptcy process is to equitably allocate your assets among your creditors and in turn provide safeguards for bankruptees from these same creditors. This reallocation process is conducted through a court official (the Official Assignee in Bankruptcy), who administers the Bankruptcy Division of the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI). Why should the purchasing solicitor/ conveyancer search for

Read More