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Currently, Hong Kong operates a deeds registration system which provides a record of registration for all instruments affecting land or relating to interests in land. (When fully operational, the Land Titles Ordinance, passed on 7 July 2004, will replace the current deeds registration system in Hong Kong).
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A land register is maintained for each property at the Land Registry. A deed or other document affecting a property, if entered in the land register for that property, is assigned a memorial number for identification purposes and for differentiating it from other documents. |
The memorial number of an instrument delivered for registration before the commencement of the Central Registration System in February 2005 is prefixed with the following set of district code identifiers indicating one of the previous nine registries to which the memorial was delivered.
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District Code Identifier
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Previous Land Registry
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UB
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Urban Land Registry
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IS
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Islands New Territories Land Registry
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N
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North New Territories Land Registry
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SK
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Sai Kung New Territories Land Registry
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ST
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Sha Tin New Territories Land Registry
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TM
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Tuen Mun New Territories Land Registry
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TP
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Tai Po New Territories Land Registry
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TW
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Tsuen Wan New Territories Land Registry
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YL
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Yuen Long New Territories Land Registry
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In respect of each instrument received by the Land Registry for registration after the implementation of the Central Registration System, the memorial thereof has been given a unique 14-digit number made up of four groups of numbers (for example, AAAAAABBBBCCCX), with the following meaning:
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The first six digits ("AAAAAA" in the above example) stand for the date of receipt (in terms of year, month and day respectively, each with two digits) of the memorial. |
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The next four digits ("BBBB" in the above example) record the order of receipt of each batch of memorials received on that date. |
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The following three digits ("CCC" in the above example) represent the order of memorials within each batch of memorials received. |
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The last digit ("X" in the above example) is a check digit for control purposes. |
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This record alone, however, does not provide evidence of the vendor's title. To check the title of the vendor, it is still necessary for a purchaser to examine the title deeds and documents of the property and inspect the property. |
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The land registers and imaged copies of the registered documents are open for public inspection and may be obtained at the Land Registry subject to payment of the prescribed fee. |
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