How Do I Know If Property Is Land Court Property or Regular System Property in the State of Hawaii?
Although all deeds are filed with the Bureau of Conveyances, the State of Hawaii has a dual recording system for real property: Regular System and the Land Court System. The Regular System of recording property title began about 1845 when King Kamehameha III divided Hawaii lands in Ka Mahele or "the division." Almost six decades later, the Land Court System was initiated in 1903. Each system assigns a recording number to conveyance documents in a different format, thus the recording number on the conveyance document identifies which system the property is registered with.
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Instructions
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Recording Property Records in Hawaii
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Muse on the fact that prior to 1845 all land was owned by one person, the King, and used by everyone. There was no such thing as 'private ownership.' However, with Western invasion King Kamehameha III was pressured into dividing the land among Kingdom chiefs and territorial government. This Ka Mehele or "the division" was accomplished from 1845 through 1848. The Regular System of recording property information came into being and was the sole office for this purpose until the Land Court System was established in 1903. Since 1903, property records have been recorded in one or both of these systems.
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Look at recording documents from Ka Mehele prior to 1990 and you will see recording information in the form of Book, or Libre, and Page Number. Since 1990, this information has been in the form of year plus six or seven digits. For example, recording information for a document filed in 2011 would in the format: 11-0000967. According to Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), documents filed in this system serve to inform the public that something related to a particular parcel is recorded, but there is no guarantee of title. These documents are filed in the Regular System with the Registrar of Conveyances in the office of the Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances.
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Think about the need for a guarantee of ownership or clear title to property. The Land Court System was established in 1903 with this purpose in mind. The Hawaii DLNR advises that the State of Hawaii issues a Certificate of Ownership for all property recorded in the Land Court System only after an extensive judicial review to determine ownership. Inspect recording documents in Land Court since 1903 and you will see recording information in the form of sequential numbers with no book, page or year information. Documents for the Land Court System are filed with the Office of the Assistant Registrar of the Land Court located in the Hawaii offices of the Bureau of Conveyances.
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Puzzle over a property recording document that has two sets of numbers, one with a year and one without. If this is the case, it is property that is part of the Double System Recording in Hawaii. The Hawaii DLNR confirms that all property documents filed in both systems in the past must continue to be filed in both systems.
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Probe for property information with only a Tax Map Key number (TMK). Anyone armed with the TMK can visit the Hawaii property tax records office and research the numbers on the conveying document. If the recording information is in the upper right corner of the document and has a book and page number or a year followed by six or seven digits, it is property registered with the Regular System. If the recording information is in the upper left corner and does not have a year, it is property registered with the Land Court System.
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Rifle through a document with no recording numbers and look for the exhibit that describes the property. If the property has previously been recorded in the Regular System, the exhibit will refer to a file plan, mention the Land Commission Award or Royal Patent. It will also have the Regular System recording number in the form of Book and Page Number or number with a year followed by six or seven digits. If the property has previously been filed in the Land Court System, the exhibit will have references to the Office of the Assistant Registrar, a Land Court Application number, a map number, or a document number without a year.
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