The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A prominent realtor yesterday questioned “who’s benefiting” from the absence of a land registry, with Bahamian real estate deals taking on average 60 days to close compared to just 24 hours in the US.

Mario Carey, the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate MCR Group principal, told Tribune Business that such registries are critical components in closing real estate transactions which - in The Bahamas - can take up to two years to complete. He asked: “Who is benefiting from the lack of a digital land registry?”

Christine Wallace-Whitfield, the Bahamas Real Estate Association’s (BREA) president, also yesterday backed calls to transition to a registered land system and create a land registry. “I do agree with prioritising a land registry. BREA had been a part of a forum on a land registry with the previous past president of BREA, so this conversation has been ongoing,” she said.

“It should be more on a digital platform so it can be centralised, allowing easy access for customers or clients wanting to check on their property deeds and if their title is clear. This process is not only easier, there is more transparency and it becomes a faster way of making the process of real estate buying or selling better.

“In the US, the transaction rate is much quicker, and checking on title is a faster process. We are in 2021 and doing business must be an easier process for customers and clients. Once this can be put into place we will attract more customers to invest in real estate locally and international.”

Mr Carey and Mrs Wallace-Whitfield spoke out after Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief executive, urged the government to prioritise creating a land registry as a way to bring The Bahamas “into the 21st century” and reduce the “far too many frauds and errors” scarring real estate deals.

He argued that creating a central database which registers ownership of every land parcel in this nation is “super important” to improving market transparency, the country’s ease of doing business, and ensuring households and businesses have secure title to their businesses.

Acknowledging that establishing a land registration system has been a discussion topic for decades, but never acted upon, Mr Bowe asserted that such fundamental reform would reduce - if not eliminate - the risks and costs associated with long, paper-based title searches by attorneys to prove clients have proper ownership rights to the subject real estate.

Pointing out that “a tremendous amount of land fraud exists even today”, as unscrupulous persons exploit loopholes in the title ownership chain, the Fidelity chief urged the government to “expedite” the transition to a land registry and associated land registration system on the basis that all parties involved will derive advantages from the reforms.

Mrs Wallace-Whitfield, in response, said: “I do agree with Mr Bowe that we need to now act on this and stop talking, as this is the only way to go. We have to move forward. Change is good, especially for enhancing the real estate industry.

“In the real estate industry we are now going virtual. We are doing 3D tours, and doing live showings with clients who are abroad. COVID has actually forced the real estate industry to move somewhat into the 21st century, which is good, but we have to keep moving forward, as I said, and as this is happening I see no reason for a land registry not to move along the same path to becoming digitised.”

Mr Carey added: “I agree with Mrs Wallace-Whitfield’s comments on a digitised land registry. We are in a digital world so we need to digitise.

“I don’t know why this is taking so long for the Bahamas to modernise on this. I guess change will happen when it benefits a particular part of the population. In America you can close a real estate transaction in one day versus here, where it can take you 60 days, and in some cases it can take two years,” he said.

“The question is who benefits from not having a land registry. We are all in this together, and closing a real estate transaction is more than just a register and it’s more than a title. It’s a lot of the other dysfunctional government offices, because there is nothing digitised anywhere. It’s just a lot of paper.”