Registering Property in the Bahamas

This topic examines the steps, time, and cost involved in registering property in Bahamas, the.

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Property Value: BSD 1,145,331
City: Nassau

	Procedure	Time to complete:	Cost to complete:
1	Notarization of affidavits of witnesses to signatures of conveyance	1 day	B$30-B$50
*2	Lawyer or his clerk checks for encumbrances at the Registry of records (regarding any mortgages on the property).	1 - 2 months (simultaneous with Procedures 3, 4, and 5)	2.5% of property value
*3	Lawyer checks for judgments against the property at the Supreme Court	1 day (simultaneous with Procedures 2, 4 and 5)	no cost
*4	Lawyer checks for other companies using the same property at the Company Registrar.	1 day (simultaneous with Procedures 2,3 and 5)	no cost
*5	Real property tax status enquiry with the Valuation office of the Ministry of Finance.	1 day (simultaneous with Procedure 2, 3, and 4)	no cost
6	Payment of Stamp Duty	1 day	10% of property value
7	Lodge the conveyance for recording at registry of records	1 day	B$4.5 per page

* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.

Procedure 1.: Notarization of affidavits of witnesses to signatures of conveyance
Time to complete:: 1 day
Cost to complete:: B$30-B$50
Name of Agency:
Comment:: This procedure is not required by law, but is done in practice by the registrar general as part of the registration documents. Any licensed notary public can do it but in most cases lawyers also have the notary public license.

Procedure 2.: Lawyer or his clerk checks for encumbrances at the Registry of records (regarding any mortgages on the property).
Time to complete:: 1 - 2 months (simultaneous with Procedures 3, 4, and 5)
Cost to complete:: 2.5% of property value
Name of Agency:: Registry of Records
Comment:: Searches can be carried out by the Registry staff if the date only 3 months back. Otherwise all searches are done by search clerks. The fee for the search is currently $10 an hour. The Land Registry is being computerized and many deeds have already been scanned (up to 1997). Therefore, the search is still done manually, but in the future this will be done online.

Procedure 3.: Lawyer checks for judgments against the property at the Supreme Court
Time to complete:: 1 day (simultaneous with Procedures 2, 4 and 5)
Cost to complete:: no cost
Name of Agency:: Supreme Court
Comment:: This search is conducted to check if there are any judgments regarding the property – Any charge on the judgment is levied on your estate.

Procedure 4.: Lawyer checks for other companies using the same property at the Company Registrar.
Time to complete:: 1 day (simultaneous with Procedures 2,3 and 5)
Cost to complete:: no cost
Name of Agency:: Company Registry
Comment:: This is only done if the property is owned by a company. The lawyer would also check in the Articles of Association filed at the registry of a former company who (names of the registered directors) would be authorized to sign the conveyance from the seller’s side. This is also a new measure of caution introduced under the new money laundering laws introduced after September 11.

Procedure 5.: Real property tax status enquiry with the Valuation office of the Ministry of Finance.
Time to complete:: 1 day (simultaneous with Procedure 2, 3, and 4)
Cost to complete:: no cost
Name of Agency:: Valuation office of the Ministry of Finance
Comment:: Although not required by law, it is common for the lawyer to also check if real property taxes on the property are current as they are a first charge on the property; and (2) a discharge of any mortgage granted by the seller to be evidenced prior to a new conveyance being recorded. If the seller hasn’t paid them in the past, the new owner will inherit the taxes. In addition to this procedure, the buyer's lawyer might also chose to make an inquiry with utility companies (water, electricity and phone/cable). Such inquiry could be conducted within 2 weeks.

Procedure 6.: Payment of Stamp Duty
Time to complete:: 1 day
Cost to complete:: 10% of property value
Name of Agency:
Comment:: Stamp duty is payable as a percent of the value of the property. Paid at the Public Treasury. The rates for stamp duty are as follows: Stamp duty is payable as a percent of the value of the property.
The rates of stamp duty applicable to deeds of conveyance, assignments or transfers of realty are as follows:

• When the amount or value does not exceed $20,000, the rate is 2%.
• Exceeding $20,000, but not exceeding $50,000, the rate is 4%.
• Exceeding $50,000, but not exceeding $100,000, the rate is 6%.
• Exceeding $100,000, but not exceeding $250,000, the rate is 8%.
• Exceeding $250,000, the rate is 10%.