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You open the safe before work, expecting to see that familiar folded paper, and your stomach drops. No certificate of title. If you're selling, refinancing, or simply tidying your records, losing it feels awful. Take a breath. In Victoria, the system has changed in your favour, and there is a straightforward path to put things right.
What a Certificate of Title Means in Victoria Now
Victoria has been moving to a fully digital Register of land. From 3 August 2024, all new Victorian certificates of title are electronic. Existing paper titles remain valid, but when you next deal with the land, an electronic title is created and used. If a paper title is lost, the replacement that gets issued is electronic. That means no more delicate paper to guard in a shoebox or bank vault.
Land Use Victoria is clear: losing a paper certificate can cause real headaches, including settlement delays. The fix is to apply for a replacement, which will be an electronic certificate of title.
Do You Truly Have a Lost Title?
Plenty of Melbourne owners no longer hold a piece of paper at all. If you have a mortgage, the bank often manages an electronic title already. Even without a mortgage, your conveyancer or lawyer may hold control of an electronic title, or control may sit with the Registrar. An online title search can confirm the current position. If you still hold a paper title on older property, that's when the 'lost' question is live.
How to Replace a Lost Paper Certificate of Title in Victoria
Under section 31 of the Transfer of Land Act 1958, the Registrar can create a new title when a certificate has been lost, destroyed or obliterated. In practice, that means lodging an application with proper evidence, after which a fresh electronic title is created.
Below is the practical, Melbourne tested sequence we walk clients through.
Step 1: Call Your Conveyancer Early
Do this before you sign a contract or try to book settlement. Land Use Victoria warns that lost paper titles can delay matters, so it pays to start promptly. A licensed conveyancer can coordinate the documents, confirm who last held the paper title, and set up electronic lodgement if you are represented.
Step 2: Confirm Who the Title Was Last Issued To
An issue search shows to whom Land Use Victoria last issued the paper title. Sometimes it was your bank, sometimes a former solicitor, sometimes you. If needed, a manual issue search is available for older records. Knowing the last issuing party is crucial to the statutory declaration evidence.
Step 3: Complete Verification of Identity (VOI)
Everyone involved must complete VOI. If you are represented, your conveyancer or lawyer arranges it; if you are unrepresented, Australia Post can verify and witness your signing. No VOI, no lodgement.
Step 4: Prepare the Statutory Declarations
This is the heart of the application. Land Use Victoria expects clear declarations from:
- All registered proprietors, explaining how the certificate was handled after issue and how it went missing
- The party last issued with the paper title, explaining how they disposed of it or passed it on
- Anyone else who held the title, if there were later custodians
If theft is suspected, include police details; if destroyed, provide what remains or explain why it cannot be produced. If a bank once held it but the loan was repaid years ago, the bank's records may still be needed to confirm it was not released to someone else. Where a proprietor is deceased, the replacement application is paired with the correct 'remove deceased' dealing.
Step 5: Collect Supporting Documents
Expect to attach:
- A current title search and the issue search
- Evidence from any bank that once held the certificate
- Copies of correspondence, insurance information if relevant, and proof of any searches you undertook for the missing title
These supporting papers give the Registrar confidence that the title is truly gone and that releasing a new one is safe.
Step 6: Fill in the Application Form (Form 10)
The approved form is the 'Application for a new certificate of title in place of one lost or destroyed'. It must be prepared with care, signed by the right party, and lodged with the correct fee. Unrepresented owners still have a paper route, but if you are represented by a conveyancer or lawyer, lodgement is electronic via PEXA.
Step 7: Lodge and Pay the Fees
Two cost elements commonly apply:
- A lodgement fee set by Land Use Victoria's current fees schedule
- An assurance contribution, which since 1 March 2020 has been a flat $200 for most section 31 applications, payable at lodgement (Land Use Victoria may ask for an additional contribution if it assesses the case as high risk)
If you are budgeting in the inner north, the south east or the west, keep in mind there will also be professional fees and incidental costs, such as statutory declaration witnessing and VOI.
Step 8: Receive Your Electronic Title
Once the Registrar is satisfied, the old folio is cancelled and a new folio is created. From 3 August 2024, the certificate issued is electronic, not paper. If you later find the paper title at the back of a filing cabinet in Brunswick, you must undertake to return it to the Registrar, since it is no longer valid.
How Long Does Certificate of Title Replacement Take?
There is no guaranteed timeframe. Straightforward matters can move reasonably quickly once the evidence is ready, but complicated histories take longer, particularly where old mortgages or deceased estates are involved. Firms that run these often advise allowing plenty of time before a planned settlement date.
Special Situations for Lost Titles in Melbourne
Deceased Proprietor
Where a registered owner has died, the replacement title application travels together with the right dealing: Application by Legal Personal Representative or Application by Surviving Proprietor. This ensures the Register mirrors the true legal position before the new title issues.
Bank Previously Held the Paper Title
Common on older houses in Essendon, Ringwood or Bentleigh, a repaid mortgage may mean the bank held the title decades ago. Your statutory declarations need to trace custody and, where possible, include a bank letter confirming the certificate was not released or that their records show its fate.
Company Owners
If the proprietor is a company, include a current company search identifying the officers. The deponent for the statutory declaration should be an appropriate officer who can speak to the company's custody and search for the title.
Caveats and Other Interests
If a caveat affects the land, the declarations must confirm the missing certificate is not in the caveator's possession. Any interest holders who might plausibly have held the paper need to be addressed in the evidence.
Converting Paper to Electronic Title (When Not Lost)
What if you still have your paper title, but want to 'go electronic'?
There is a separate process to convert a paper certificate to an electronic one when the paper document is still safely in hand. Subscribers use an administrative notice to convert and nominate the electronic title for the next dealing. This is not the same as a 'lost title' application, and Land Use Victoria asks professionals to choose the correct route.
For survey and planning applications in SPEAR, lodging parties first convert paper titles to electronic before nominating them to the case. Importantly, the physical paper does not need to be handed in; it is invalidated or destroyed once the conversion is done.
Understanding Electronic Certificate of Title Control
In the electronic world, 'control' of the title sits with the party who can authorise its use in a transaction, usually your bank, your conveyancer or lawyer, or the Registrar. When a transfer or mortgage is prepared in PEXA, a Nomination is lodged by the controller to permit that title to be used in the workspace. This is why, during a sale, your practitioner talks about 'controller of the eCT' and 'nomination to the case'.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lost Certificates of Title
Can I settle without the certificate of title?
Not if a paper certificate exists and is required for the dealing. If the paper is lost, you need the section 31 process to issue a replacement electronic title first. That is why early action saves stress near settlement.
Will I get another paper document to keep?
No. Replacements are electronic from 3 August 2024. Your practitioner will manage the electronic title, and a title search shows the most up to date record for your land.
What happens if I find the paper title after the replacement is issued?
You undertake to return it to the Registrar, since it is no longer valid once the new folio has been created.
How much will it cost?
Expect the Land Use Victoria lodgement fee and the $200 assurance contribution for most cases, with the possibility of an extra contribution in higher risk matters. Professional fees and VOI costs sit on top. Check the current fee schedule before lodging.
Do I need a lawyer or conveyancer?
You can apply unrepresented, but most owners prefer a professional to handle VOI, statutory declarations, and electronic lodgement, and to liaise with banks and buyers to keep settlement on track. Land Use Victoria recommends seeking help from a licensed conveyancer or Australian legal practitioner.
Your Melbourne Friendly Action Plan for Lost Titles
Pause and check: Order a title search to confirm whether your title is already electronic and who controls it. If it is electronic, you may not have a problem at all.
Call a practitioner: Loop in a conveyancer early, particularly if you have a signed contract or pending refinance. Lost paper titles can blow out settlement dates if left late.
Gather the story: List everyone who ever held the paper title, from banks to old firms, and collect emails, letters and any evidence of searches.
Do VOI and declarations: Get your identity verified and prepare clean, specific statutory declarations that trace custody to the point of loss.
Lodge correctly: Use the approved application form, lodge via PEXA if represented, and pay the fees, including the $200 assurance contribution for most cases.
Plan your timeline: Build in a buffer before settlement. Complications like deceased estates or very old mortgages can add time.
Preventing Future Title Loss
If you still hold a paper certificate for a Brunswick terrace or a Frankston unit, store it in a safe, labelled place and keep a note in your phone of where it lives. Tell the family member who would be responsible if anything happened to you. Once you transact, your new certificate will be electronic, which removes the risk of losing paper in future.
Get Professional Help with Your Lost Certificate of Title
If your certificate of title is missing, or you simply want someone calm and capable to shoulder the paperwork, Pearson Chambers Conveyancing can sort it. We deal with lost titles across Melbourne, from the CBD to the suburbs, and we know how to keep a sale or refinance moving.
Contact us for tailored advice and a complimentary Section 32 contract review: