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NSW Lands Searches Owner/Lessee Inquiry

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What information will I get from an Owner/Lessee Inquiry?

An Owner/Lessee Inquiry will provide a list of best matches to your search criteria.
Each match will return the following details where available:

  •  Registered Name
  •  Locality
  •  Title or Water Access Licence Reference
  •  Acquired Dealing
  •  Corresponding Title or Water Access Licences References.

From this list, selections can be made to obtain a copy of the relevant title or water access licence.
Automated titles or water access licences that are returned are currently owned/leased by the subject individual or corporation, including current, partly or fully cancelled, automated and/or manual Torrens titles. Details will not be returned for Old System titles.

When should I do an Owner/Lessee Inquiry?

An Owner/Lessee Inquiry is most useful when you need to confirm the owner/lessee of a property before proceeding to other searches. Provided your search criteria is accurate, this inquiry will return references to any automated titles or water access licences that are currently owned/leased by an individual or corporation.

What search criteria will produce the best results when searching on an individual?

  • If "Mc" or "Mac" is entered, the inquiry searches on both variations.
  • If an apostrophe is entered, for example."O'Brien", the inquiry searches for names both with and without it.
  • If spaces are entered, for example."Van Der Meer", the inquiry searches for names both with and without them.
  • Hyphenated names can be entered in full for example, "Smith-Jones" or "Mary-Louise", or in part for example, "Smith" or "Mary" as the inquiry routinely searches for hyphenated variations.

What search criteria will produce the best results when searching on a corporation?

  • Do not use abbreviations such as P/L, Pty Ltd.
  • The names Company, Corporation or their abbreviations are removed and replaced by a wildcard to find all variations.
  • If "&" or "And" is entered , the inquiry searches on both variations.
  • If "The" is entered, the inquiry searches for names with and without it.
  • Include numerics if necessary for example,"The 123 Company"
  • If the name includes punctuation or other special characters (such as dot, comma, quotes or brackets), these should be entered and the inquiry will search for names with and without them.

How do I use wildcards?

  • % is used to indicate that the criteria you have entered is part of what you wish to find, but not necessarily all of it.
  • Wildcards (%) allow you to search for all entries that include a particular name or a string of letters.
  • A wildcard must be preceded by at least 3 characters.
  • If more than 500 matches are found then you will be requested to redefine your search criteria.

Wildcard Examples

A wildcard can represent one or more letters, for example, Robert% in the Corporation name will return results for the company name of Roberts, Robertson, Robertson & Sons, etc.

Can Owner/Lessee names be suppressed?

An Owner/Lessee Inquiry will not return any current owner/lessee or purchaser details for names that have been suppressed by NSW Land Registry Services for security reasons.

What information will I receive if I also select Search Given Name(s) in any order?

The any order Given Name search is limited to the entry of 2 Given Names. This option allows the inquiry to also search the Given Names in reverse order. The names returned will match the Surname entered exactly. The inquiry also searches for hyphenated Surnames and characters within brackets. The Given Name(s) returned will be in any order within the name but may include additional names.

For example: Surname - Wood, Given Name - Cathy "Search Given Name(s) in any order" will return Cathy Wood, Cathy Lorraine Wood-Burden, Cathy Elizabeth Wood (Deceased), Helen Cathy Wood, Bridget Ellen Cathy Wood-Burner, etc.

What information will I receive if I also select Search Corporation Name in any order ?

One of the names entered must be the first name (excluding "The"). The words Pty Ltd, etc are not to be included in the names entered. The names Company, Corporation or their abbreviations are removed (as is everything that follows them) and replaced by a wildcard. This enables the inquiry to find variations of those names for example. Corp, Co, Co., etc. The names returned will include the names entered but in any order but may include additional names.

For example: Corporation Name - The A.B.C. Company "Search Corporation Name in any order" will return The A.B.C. Pty Ltd, ABC Building Co Pty Ltd, ABC Pty Limited, The A B C Company Shop Pty Ltd, A.B.C. Shop Corporation etc.

What will I get if I also request Search for current and previous owners/lessees ?

An Owner/Lessee Inquiry is designed to return the references of any automated titles or water access licences that are currently owned/leased by an individual or corporation.

However, the database behind this search does include limited information of previous ownership from 1 June 1971 to the present. The concept of 'previous ownership' covers the previous owners of automated titles, the current or previous owners of manual titles* and the lessee names for current and expired leases for both manual and automated titles.

Selecting this option will present a list of Current Owners/Lessees that match your search criteria, followed by a list of names in the 'previous owner/lessees' categories as described above.

The ITS is unable to distinguish between current and previous owners/lessees for manual titles, therefore the owner/lessee details for manual titles will only be included in the Previous Purchasers/Lessees list and should always be confirmed via another source.

How do I receive my result?

The result of a search will be displayed immediately and stored in your Confirm Inbox. An additional copy may be emailed to you if you select this option when you conduct your search.To access your Inbox, follow the links in the CITEC Confirm header. You can revisit your result any time within 28 days without incurring an extra cost. For more information on how to use the Inbox, see the Confirm Inbox FAQ.