Prac Playbook Edition 8

lands as well as Old system lands.
Status of crown lands and searching of
crown tenures.
3. HOW LONG DOES
AN OLD SYSTEM
INVESTIGATION
TAKE?
5 FACTS ABOUT OLD
SYSTEM SEARCHING
T h i s a r t i c l e a l s o a v a i l a b l e i n o u r b l o g
We sat down with Mark Groll, InfoTrack’s Old System Searching Specialist and one of
only three people in NSW who can do all aspects of Old System Searching to learn more
about the process. Mark has been investigating NSW land titles for over 40 years and
often liaises with the land titles office to make improvements to Old System Searching.
His reports are regularly used in court and stored as evidence with the land titles office.
1.WHAT KIND OF
INFORMATION CAN
YOU FIND THROUGH
OLD SYSTEMS
SEARCHING?
In the past, investigations were mainly
conducted for the sale, purchase or
refinance of a property, in most cases
investigating the title back 30 years’ in
time to identify a good commencing point.
Unfortunately, these types of old system
searches have decreased over the years as
more properties have been converted to
the Real Property Act Title even though
it’s risk not to do them. Despite the
decrease in certain types of Old Title
searching, the need for investigating Old
System Title has actually increased over
the years, spurred by the following types
of investigations.
Locating and identifying lands and
terms and conditions of rights of way,
easements and covenants that benefit
or affect land, where the encumbrance
may not have been carried forward to
the current title. Some of these
encumbrances have been found to be
created in the 1800s.
E d i t i o n 0 8 | 6
Native Title and Aboriginal Land Claim
investigation on the Old System, Real
Property Act and Crown lands.
Ownership of roads and right of way
covering all three land titles systems.
Dwelling for adjoining rural properties,
usually under 100 acres in size.
Dating structures for heritage
purposes.
Locating and dating structures for
archaeological purposes.
Ownership of roads covering all three
land title systems.
Searching from the original Crown
Grants where the owner of land
adjoining certain types of roads or a
non-tidal water way are making a claim
for ownership usually to the middle of
the road or creek. This is search
conducted for a rule called the Ad
Medium Filum rule.
2. WHAT OTHER LAND
SEARCHING SERVICES
DO YOU PROVIDE?
Site contamination searches.
Legal Access to and from properties.
Investigation of benefitting or affecting
easements, rights of way or covenants,
conducted on both Real Property Act
lands as well as Old system lands.
A standard search usually takes 1 day,
but depending on the commencing point
and the complexity it can take up to
weeks or months. I spent 9 months
working on a road ownership
investigation for West Connex which
involved determining whether cross
roads were private, Crown or Council
owned so that Roads and Maritime
Services could get them into the public.
One of the roads I investigated dated
back to 1792.
4. WHAT HAVE BEEN
THE BIGGEST
CHANGES TO OLD
SYSTEM SEARCHING
IN THE PAST 40
YEARS?
When I first started in 1977 it cost 25
cents for a copy of any document!
Digitisation has definitely been the
biggest change. Though some of the
intricacies and integrity of data
recording have dropped off, overall it
has benefited everyone by providing
the ability to search quicker. It’s a 24/7
industry now with most of the
processes electronic, but there are still
a few manual processes.
5. WHAT IS THE BEST
PART ABOUT
WORKING IN OLD
SYSTEM SEARCHING?
I love that I never stop learning; there’s
always something new to discover and
every search is a puzzle that requires
slotting the jigsaw pieces together. I get to
work with a variety of people including
councils, solicitors, lawyers, RMS,
environmental scientists, and
archaeologists. I enjoy being able to
provide results in an unbiased report;
there are only one or two investigations
that I haven’t been able to solve in my 40
years of land investigation.