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Lodge or withdraw a caveat over property

We assess whether your interest is caveatable, lodge the caveat, and defend it if a lapsing notice is served.

A caveat stops the registered owner dealing with a title without you knowing. It is a powerful thing to put on someone else’s land, and the law treats it that way. Lodge without a proper interest and you can be made to compensate them. Miss the deadline in a lapsing notice and your protection is gone. We assess the interest first, then lodge and manage it.

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The interest tested before you lodge

You find out whether the claim is caveatable before lodging exposes you to a compensation claim.

A caveat in the correct form

The interest and the land are described accurately, so the caveat actually does what you lodged it for.

The lapsing deadline met

If a lapsing notice arrives we move straight to the court application, so the protection does not simply expire.

What a caveat does, and what it cannot do

A caveat is a notice lodged on the title at the land titles office. It tells the Registrar that someone claims an interest in the land. It prevents registration of dealings that would affect that interest.

A caveat does not create an interest. It protects one that already exists. That distinction is the whole of the law here. You need an equitable or legal interest in the land itself, not simply a debt owed to you by the owner. A contract of sale, an unregistered mortgage, a beneficial interest under a trust, or a contribution to the purchase price can all qualify. Being owed money, on its own, does not.

Caveats are also temporary by design. The registered owner can serve a lapsing notice. From that point you have a short, fixed period to apply to the Supreme Court, or the caveat goes.

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What interest do I need to lodge a caveat?

You need a caveatable interest, which means a legal or equitable interest in the land itself. A personal claim against the owner is not enough. Qualifying interests include an equitable interest under a contract of sale and an unregistered mortgage or charge. A beneficial interest under a trust or a contribution to the purchase price can also qualify. We assess your claim before anything is lodged.

What happens when a lapsing notice is served on me?

The clock starts, and the caveat lapses unless you get a Supreme Court order extending it in time. The period is fixed by legislation and it is short, measured in days rather than months. The application has to be supported by evidence of your interest. We handle these urgently.

What if I lodge a caveat I was not entitled to lodge?

A person who lodges without reasonable cause is liable to compensate anyone who suffers loss. An owner who loses a sale or a refinance because of an unwarranted caveat can claim what it cost them. This is why we assess the strength of the interest before lodging rather than after.

How do I remove a caveat?

You can withdraw it at any time by lodging a withdrawal of caveat at the land titles office. It has to be properly prepared and executed to be accepted for registration. If the dispute has settled, or the interest has been satisfied, we prepare and lodge the withdrawal to release the title.

A caveat lodged wrongly, or not defended, leaves you worse off than before

The process has strict requirements and a very short clock. Lodging without proper grounds creates liability, and missing a lapsing notice loses the protection outright.

A caveat is a strong remedy, and it cuts both ways

You have an interest in land and the owner is about to deal with it. A caveat is the only thing that will stop them in time.

But lodging without a proper caveatable interest exposes you to a compensation claim from an owner whose sale or refinance you have just blocked. And if a lapsing notice is served, you have only weeks to assemble a court application. You need to know whether your interest qualifies, quickly.

We will assess whether your claim gives rise to a caveatable interest before anything is lodged.
We will prepare and lodge the caveat in the correct form at the land titles office.
We will watch for a lapsing notice and act within the deadline to protect your interest.
We will prepare the withdrawal once the dispute is resolved or the interest is satisfied.

You need to stop a dealing, and you need to be right about it

You have an interest in land. Perhaps you contributed to the purchase price. Perhaps you hold an unregistered mortgage, or a contract of sale the owner is trying to get out of. Now they are about to sell or refinance, and once that registers your interest may be gone.

A caveat will stop it. But you also know that lodging one wrongly has consequences, and that the clock runs against you afterwards. You want someone to tell you whether the interest is caveatable, then handle it properly from lodgement onwards.

What's included in your caveat service

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Assessment of whether your claim is a caveatable interest.
Caveat preparation and lodgement at the land titles office.
Lapsing notice monitoring and response.
Supreme Court application preparation where the caveat is challenged.
Withdrawal of caveat prepared when the interest is satisfied.

What goes wrong with caveats

The costly mistake is lodging without a caveatable interest. An owner who loses a sale or a refinance because of an unwarranted caveat can claim the loss from you. A caveat lodged to apply pressure over a debt is the classic example, and it is the classic compensation claim.

The quiet mistake is letting it lapse. A lapsing notice gives you a fixed deadline. Miss it, and the caveat comes off and the dealing proceeds. The interest you were protecting can be defeated entirely, and there is no extension for having been busy.

The technical mistake is the form. A caveat that misdescribes the interest or the land may not be effective at all. You get the comfort of thinking you are protected without the protection.

How we protect the interest without creating a new problem

We start with the interest itself. Is it an interest in the land, or is it a debt? That answer decides whether a caveat is available, and how strong the position is if it is challenged.

If it is caveatable, we prepare it in the correct form. The interest and the land are described accurately, and we lodge it at the land titles office.

Then we watch it. If a lapsing notice is served, we act immediately. We file the Supreme Court application inside the deadline, so the caveat holds until the underlying dispute is resolved. When the dispute settles, we prepare the withdrawal.

Three steps to protecting your interest in land

Interest assessed, caveat lodged, lapsing notice met in time.

Assess the interest

We advise whether your claim is a caveatable interest in the land and what the risk of lodging is.

Prepare and lodge

We prepare the caveat in the correct form and lodge it at the land titles office to protect your interest.

Hold or withdraw

We watch for a lapsing notice and file the court application in time, and prepare the withdrawal once the dispute resolves.

Caveats assessed, lodged and defended

Caveats are almost always urgent. Someone is about to do something that will defeat your interest, and the window is short. That pressure is exactly what produces badly founded caveats, which is the one mistake that turns your problem into a liability.

We assess whether the interest is genuinely caveatable before anything is lodged, and we tell you plainly if it is not. We prepare the caveat in the correct form and watch for a lapsing notice. If one comes, we move on the Supreme Court application inside the deadline. We are an ISO 9001 accredited practice. How your matter is run, who does the work and what you get told are all defined and externally audited.

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Six principles we hold to, whatever you bring us and however long it takes.

Take the time

We listen carefully to understand what you want to achieve, then step you through the advice and the documents.

Share our knowledge

We pass on as much as we can, so you can make your own informed decisions.

Stick to our knitting

We only do what we are good at, so you never pay for our learning.

Work as one team

Someone is always available to answer your question or point you the right way.

Fair pricing

A fixed or capped quote for advice and documents, so you do not carry the price risk.

It is your show

We are in it for a front row seat to witness your success, not for our egos.

Ready to protect your interest in land

Caveats work when they are properly founded and moved on quickly. Both of those are easier before the dealing you are worried about has been lodged. Tell us about the interest you hold and the property, and we will tell you whether a caveat is available.

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